A district court in Ayodhya sentenced BJP lawmaker Indra Pratap Tewari and two others to five years imprisonment on charges of using forged mark sheets to gain admission in a college around 29 years ago.
Special judge (MP/MLA Court) Pooja Singh also imposed a fine of Rs 14,000 on each of them.
Tewari and Phoolchand Yadav had allegedly got admission in B. Sc second year at Saket College in Ayodhya on the basis of a forged mark sheet in 1992. All of them were students of the college and had failed in B.Sc first year and were thus not eligible to be promoted to the second year.
Similarly, Kripa Nidhan Tewari, who was also convicted along with the BJP MLA and Yadav, had failed in the first-year course of Bachelor of Law at the same college but was promoted to the second year on the basis of a forged mark sheet.
The then principal of the college had lodged a complaint with the police way back in 1992. All of them were sent to jail immediately after the court pronounced its verdict.
Tewari, who was an MLA from Gaosaiganj assembly seat in Ayodhya district, could lose his membership after the verdict. The Supreme Court had ruled in a case in 2013 that any member of Parliament or state assembly or member of the legislative council would lose membership of the house if convicted of a crime and is sentenced to a minimum of two years imprisonment.
A red faced BJP leadership refused to comment on the verdict.
Check out the latest videos from DH:
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks