Bhopal: While the winter session of Madhya Pradesh assembly is only nine days ahead, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had a relief as the Supreme Court of India upheld state high court’s verdict of staying former BJP MLA Prahlad Singh Lodhi’s conviction in an old case.
Notably, Lodhi was accused of beating up a government officer and was awarded two-year jail term by a lower court last month and on the basis of this order, the assembly speaker NP Prajapati had issued orders to disqualify Lodhi from House. The BJP had strongly opposed the move alleging partisan behaviour from the Speaker.
After the Supreme Court’s verdict, Lodhi told that Justice has been delivered. The former Pawai MLA claimed that delivering sentence against him, the lower court had granted him bail and offered him time till Dec 12 to appeal in a higher court but despite a stay from HC, the speaker in a malicious manner terminated his membership to assembly.
Saying that the speaker should automatically reinstate his membership to assembly, Lodhi affirmed that he along with senior party leaders would protest if his membership isn’t reinstated. My entire party has promised me to take me along inside assembly on Dec 17, he affirmed.
The Congress was thinking against me the day I defeated their leader Mukesh Nayak. Senior lawyer Purushendra Kaurav representing Lodhi claimed that speaker has now no option but to revoke the suspension/disqualification of Prahlad Lodhi.
“Law is very clear in the case of Lok Prahari that once conviction is ordered disqualification is attracted with immediate effect and once the conviction is stayed, the disqualification does not operate,” added Kaurav.
The state government has filed a Special Leave Petition with the apex court after the HC had stayed the conviction of Lodhi in an old case.
