Agra, 7 Aug: Agra’s session court has given a stay on BJP leader and MP, Ram Shankar Katheria’s conviction in a 12-year-old assault and rioting case.
Katheria praised the order and stated that he had received justice. After a Special Magistrate MP/MLA Court found Katheria guilty of the allegations and sentenced him to two years in jail, the former Minister of State for Human Resource Development faced disqualification from the Lok Sabha. When the state was controlled by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the MP from UP’s Etawah was charged with assaulting the personnel of Torrent Power Limited in Agra in 2011.
“It was a matter involving a SC woman who irons clothes on the Shamsabad road in Agra,” Katheria said on Saturday, recalling the event that occurred on November 16, 2011. She had complained to me about receiving an enormous Torrent power bill.” “One day, the woman came to my office and threatened to commit suicide over the excessive bill,” he explained.
The MP stated that after hearing the woman’s complaint, he approached the Torrent office and requested that the exorbitant bill be reconsidered. “In 2011, the BSP was in power in Uttar Pradesh, and many false cases were filed against me. I have complete respect for the court,” he remarked.
The opposition leaders had pressed for Katheria’s quick disqualification, citing a criminal defamation case in which Rahul Gandhi was expelled from the lower house within 24 hours of the trial court’s ruling.
Katheria’s disqualification as Lok Sabha MP from Etawah in Uttar Pradesh was requested by Madhya Pradesh Congress head Kamal Nath, who said his conviction was for a more serious act than Rahul Gandhi was accused of.
“He (Ram Shankar Katheria) should be disqualified from Parliament with immediate effect. Everyone is treated equally under the law. The Supreme Court has now issued its judgement on Rahul Gandhi’s case. There is a significant difference between what he (Katheria) did and what Rahul Gandhi is charged with,” Nath added.
