UP: BJP MLA sentenced to two-year imprisonment

Bahraich: A local court has sentenced a BJP MLA to two years in prison in a 21-year-old case, a jail term that could lead to his disqualification from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, a government counsel said on Friday.

Sureshwar Singh, an MLA from Mahasi Assembly seat of this district, was convicted on Thursday for threatening a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) in 2002, district govt counsel (criminal) Munnu Lal Mishra told reporters. The court granted bail to the MLA after the sentencing, Mishra said. Under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act (RPA) 1951, any public representative sentenced to imprisonment of two years or more is disqualified from the date of sentence and is barred from contesting elections for the next six years after serving the sentence. According to prosecution, on September 2, 2002, SDM of Mahasi tehsil Lal Mani Mishra had filed a case against Mahasi MLA at the Hardi police station.