2 Congress MLAs among 9 get 1-year jail in 2014 Rajasthan University protest case
Jaipur: Nine members of the Congress party, including two sitting legislators, were sentenced to one year of imprisonment by a Jaipur court on Wednesday for allegedly blocking roads outside the University of Rajasthan during a student protest in 2014. All the accused were granted bail shortly after the sentencing.
All nine accused — including Ladnun MLA Mukesh Bhakar and Shahpura MLA Manish Yadav — were geld guilty by the additional chief metropolitan magistrate-19 of Jaipur, Parikshita Detha, under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including Section 283 (danger or obstruction in a public way or line of navigation).
'We had been protesting for a very fair reason and for the welfare of the students. The then-BJP government had booked us unfairly and are now playing a political game to send us inside the jail. We will move to the higher court and challenge this order,' Yadav told HT.
The then-National Students' Union of India (NSUI) leaders Bhakar, Yadav, and seven others had gathered in front of University of Rajasthan on JLN Marg along with around 200 students to protest against the process of the Common Entrance Test (CET) for admission to postgraduate courses on August 13, 2014.
'The court sentenced them to one year imprisonment. However, they were also granted bail from the chief metropolitan magistrate's court. They now have the option to file an appeal in the high court seeking a stay on the sentence. Each convict has one month to file the appeal,' prosecution officer Kavita Pingolia said.
'In the cases where the accused is sentenced to less than three years of imprisonment, he could use the power of 389 crpc and get bail by suspending the punishment only appeal in the higher court in a month. We will have to appeal in a higher court in a month. Otherwise, they must surrender before the court,' advocate of the accused Narendra Yadav said.
The nine sentenced to one year of imprisonment include Congress's Jhotwara candidate during the 2023 assembly election, Abhishek Chaudhary, along with Rajesh Meena, Ravi Kirad, Wasim Khan, Dron Yadav, Bhanu Pratap Singh, and Vidyadhar Meel, apart from MLAs Bhakar and Yadav.
'The local police were present there and the protest was going peacefully, maintaining all the law and order. However, the nine leaders along with all the other protesters had suddenly moved towards the JLN Marg and blocked it for 20 minutes (from 2.10 pm to 2.30 pm), causing heavy traffic across the city. An FIR was filed against them at the Gandhinagar police station under Section 147 and 283 IPC, following which a charge sheet was filed on August 11, 2016,' read the order copy seen by HT.
It further added, 'The court is hereby charging all the accused with a ₹200 fine and sentencing a 15-day-long imprisonment for their offence under Section 283 IPC. They are also charged a ₹3,000 fine and sentenced to one year imprisonment for their offence under Section 147 IPC.'
Yadav, the then student union president of Rajasthan University in 2014, was elected as an MLA from Jaipur's Shahpura constituency for the first time in 2023 by defeating the two-time MLA Alok Beniwal.
Bhakar, a two-time MLA from Nagaur's Ladnun constituency, was first elected as an MLA in 2018 by defeating three-time BJP MLA Thakur Manohar Singh and retained the seat again in 2023.
Bhakar, who also served as the state president of the Youth Congress in 2020, the state president of NSUI from 2013 to 2015, and the national secretary of NSUI in 2017, was suspended from the assembly for six months on August 7, 2024, by Speaker Vasudev Devnani for his alleged 'indecent behaviour' during the budget session.
However, an official from the government said, 'The conviction might not pose any threat to their MLA designation. As per the Constitution, the MLAs could be disqualified from the assembly only when the sentence is for more than two years.'
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