A magisterial court in Junagadh district on Tuesday sentenced a Congress MLA to six months simple jail in a 13-year-old assault and rioting case.
The court found Somnath MLA Vimal Chudasama and two others guilty of charges of unlawful assembly (IPC 149) and causing voluntary hurt (IPC 323), among other sections.
After the judgement, Chudasama, who is among the 17 Congress MLAs who could win in the December 2022 Assembly polls, got a stay on the order to file an appeal in the sessions court.
The court while granting him a stay on conviction also ordered to release him on bail. Chudasama said that he will challenge the judgement in the sessions court soon.
"It was a politically motivated case. I was framed by the leaders of the BJP who wanted me to join them. After I declined their repeated efforts, they framed me in this false case," he said.
Hitesh Parmar and Mohan Vadher are two other accused who were found guilty and sentenced to six months simple jail term. They were found guilty of assaulting local BJP leaders in 2010.