Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti disqualified from MP assembly after conviction in cheating case
Bhopal (PTI): Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti has been disqualified from the state legislative assembly following his conviction in a case involving the tampering of bank records to secure illegal interest payments, officials said on Friday.
Following deliberations on the issue on Thursday night, the Vidhan Sabha authorities issued a notification annulling Bharti’s membership from the Datia assembly seat, they said.
Bharti had defeated former MP home minister Narottam Mishra of the ruling BJP from the seat in the 2023 assembly polls.
The notification, citing a Delhi court order sentencing Bharti to three years’ imprisonment and declaring the Datia seat vacant, was issued by the assembly’s principal secretary, Arvind Sharma, on the night of April 2 and released to the media on Friday morning.
A Delhi court on Thursday sentenced Bharti and a former bank employee to three years’ imprisonment in a cheating case involving the forging of bank records to obtain illegal interest payments between 1998 and 2011.
Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Bharti and former cashier Raghuvir Sharan Prajapati.
The duo was convicted on Wednesday for the offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery of a valuable security, forgery for cheating and using a forged document as genuine.
The case, which originated in MP’s Datia, was transferred to Delhi by the Supreme Court in October last year, in light of the claim that efforts were made to intimidate defence witnesses.
The top court, which had stayed further proceedings in the case pending before a court in Gwalior, had said it was the state’s duty to ensure a fair trial was conducted.
In its 95-page judgment, the Delhi court rejected the defence plea that the accused, as “public servants”, could not be prosecuted for discharge of official functions without government sanction, saying cheating and forgery are “dereliction of duty rather than the performance of a duty”.
It said that Bharti and Prajapati, along with the MLA's mother Savitri Devi and possibly other unknown persons, conspired to cheat the complainant bank -- Zila Sahkari Krishi Aur Grahmin Vikas Bank -- by continuing to draw interest at a much higher rate beyond 2011, even though their fixed deposit (FD) had an initial tenure of three years.
Proceedings against Savitri Devi were abated after she died in 2019.
The court also observed, “The argument by Bharti that he is politically targeted or that the prosecution is politically motivated is all speculation. He has failed to prove any such political motives or false implications.”
Instead, it is a case involving the forgery of bank documents and the cheating of a bank between 1998 and 2011, long before the alleged political rivalry claimed by Bharti, the court said.
According to the prosecution, Savitri Devi had deposited Rs 10 lakh in the Zila Sahkari Krishi Aur Grahmin Vikas Bank at Datia on August 24, 1998, and the deposit was made in the name of a family-run trust for an FD of three years at an interest rate of 13.5 per cent per annum.
It was alleged that the accused entered into a conspiracy to extend the high-interest payments beyond the stipulated period by tampering with bank records.
Using correction fluid and overwriting, the three-year term was extended by 10 and 15 years, allowing the trust to continue withdrawing annual interest payments till 2011, long after market interest rates had plummeted, claimed the prosecution.
It was alleged that the trust, where Bharti was a trustee, illegally got around Rs 18.5 lakh in interest. In its order, the court said that Bharti, who served as the chairman of the bank when the fraud was committed, used his position to pressure employees and facilitate the unauthorised payments to his family trust.
The court also noted that the initials of the then bank cashier Prajapati were found next to the tampered sections of the records where correction fluid had been applied.
The court rejected the defence submission that the accused were “public servants” immune from prosecution without government sanction.
It said that committing an offence punishable under the law can never be considered part of a public servant’s official duties.
Superior courts have consistently held that acts such as cheating, forgery, fabrication of records, and criminal conspiracy are not part of a public servant's official duties, it said.
Since forgery involves creating false documents and cheating involves deception, these acts are regarded as a dereliction of duty rather than the performance of a duty, it said.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
