2020 Kidnapping case: Allahabad HC grants bail to ex-MP but refuses to stay 7-yr jail term: ‘Need of hour to have purity in politics’

In an appeal filed by the former MP and his associate, they urged the High Court to stay the operation and the effect of the judgment and release them on bail.

Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh of the Allahabad High Court ordered their release on bail on “furnishing a personal bond and two reliable sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court”. The court, further, stated, “…the prayer for stay of operation and effect of judgment of conviction of appellant No.1 (Dhananjay Singh) is refused and is hereby rejected.”

The court observed, “It is often seen that after conviction of a person who was or is Member of Legislative Assembly or Member of Parliament, used to take a general plea for stay of operation and effect of his conviction that he wants to contest election and in case the judgment of his conviction is not stayed, he will be deprived of his right to contest the election which will result in irreparable loss and injury to him, but this Court feels that each and every case has to be decided on its own merit as well as considering all the surrounding circumstances and other attending factors including gravity of offences, nature of previous criminal history etc. No uniform and straight-jacket formula can be laid down for stay of conviction in all the cases. The parameter and legal position for stay of execution of sentence/bail and stay of conviction are different.”

The court also observed: “Now, it is the need of the hour to have purity in politics, therefore, for staying the judgment of conviction, the Courts should exercise its discretionary power sparingly with caution in a rare and appropriate cases. The purpose sought to be achieved by enacting disqualification on conviction for certain offences is to prevent person with criminal background from entering into politics and governance. Persons with criminal background pollute the process of election as they have no reservation from indulging in criminality to win an election. When persons having long criminal history turn into elected representatives and become lawmakers, they pose a serious threat to the functioning of a democratic system.

The very future of our democracy gets imperilled when such offenders masquerade as leaders making a travesty of the entire system. The increasing trend of criminalisation of politics is dangerous and has steadily been eating into the vitals of our democratic polity along with growing corruption of a humongous nature. Considering the facts of this case that the appellant No.1 (Dhananjay Singh) has secured acquittal in 28 criminal cases due to reasons that witnesses turned hostile as pointed out on behalf of the State, which has not been controverted on behalf of the accused appellant No.1 and that there is no dispute that at present, 10 criminal cases (as noted in Chart-B) are still pending against him, I do not find any good ground, special reason or exceptional case to stay the operation and effect of the impugned judgment of conviction…”

The former MP’s lawyer had argued that he had been falsely implicated by the police. The impugned judgment and order of the trial court are illegal and based on perverse findings, the lawyer had said.

In its response, the government opposed the appeal. The government counsel had cited the criminal record of Dhananjay Singh. It was noted that Dhananjay Singh has a lengthy criminal history, with a total of 46 cases, out of which 36 have been resolved. He has been convicted in just one case, while ten cases are still pending against him.

Earlier in the day, Dhananjay Singh was transferred to Bareilly jail from Jaunpur on a government order. A senior district official said that an MLA of the district had written a letter to the government seeking his transfer, saying that Dhananjay’s wife Srikala Reddy, who is contesting elections from Jaunpur parliamentary constituency on a BSP Party ticket, was pressuring locals by calling them to jail.

Dhananjay Singh won the 2002 Assembly elections as an Independent from Rari in Jaunpur and retained it in 2007 as a JD(U) candidate. In 2009, he joined the BSP and won from Jaunpur, but was expelled from the party before the 2012 Assembly polls. After his conviction, the BSP fielded his wife, Srikala Reddy Singh.
— With PTI Inputs