Jaya Prada appears before UP court, granted conditional bail

Rampur: Former MP and actor Jaya Prada, declared an 'absconder' in connection with two cases related to election code violation, appeared before a court here on Monday and was later granted conditional bail.

The actor was the BJP candidate from Rampur in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and was defeated by the Samajwadi Party's Azam Khan. She was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rampur in 2004 and 2009 on a Samajwadi Party ticket. The SP expelled her subsequently.

In these cases, the special MP-MLA court had issued summons several times but the former MP did not appear before it. Subsequently, non-bailable warrants were issued against her seven times, but the police could not produce her before the court.

On February 27, the court declared her an 'absconder' and directed police to arrest her and produce her before it on March 6.

However, Jaya Prada reached here with her advocates and appeared before the court of MP-MLA Special Court Magistrate Shobhit Bansal on Monday.

While hearing the case, the court first took her into judicial custody. As a result, she had to stand in the dock for some time.

Considering her plea that she was unwell, the court later granted her conditional bail and ordered her to submit two sureties of Rs 20,000 each, said senior prosecution officer Amarnath Tiwari.

She assured the court that she would personally appear before it for every hearing and no application would be filed for exemption from appearance, he said.

After the court's February 27 order asking police to arrest her, Jaya Prada had filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court seeking quashing of the non-bailable warrant issued against her. The court, however, dismissed her petition.