Plea of convicted BSP leader: SC again refuses urgent hearing

The Supreme Court today once again refused to grant urgent hearing to a plea of former MP Umakant Yadav seeking suspension of his conviction and a seven year sentence in a forgery case to enable him contest the upcoming assembly elections in the Uttar Pradesh in 2017.
The plea was mentioned before a vacation bench comprising Justices A K Goel and L Nageswara Rao, which said there was no urgency in the matter which can be taken up in due course.
On June 2, the same plea was mentioned before another vacation bench which had also refused to accord an urgent hearing.

Advocate Dushyant Prashar, appearing for Yadav who has also been three times MLA of Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, said he has been a former MP and legislator and if his conviction and sentence are not suspended till the pendency of appeals, he may not be able to contest the upcoming polls.
"There is no urgency in the matter. There are several convicted people out there," the bench said, adding that the matter will be taken up in due course.
Yadav, who is out on bail since 2013, was awarded a seven year jail term in 2012 in a forgery case.

In 2006, Yadav had got a plot of land registered in his name at Daulatpur Pilkicha village of Jaunpur district by allegedly misrepresenting before the registering authority.

Yadav had approached the apex court after the trial court and the Allahabad High Court rejected his plea for suspension of conviction and sentence in the case.
In his plea before the apex court, Yadav said that out of seven years of punishment granted by the trial court, he has already undergone the sentence of six years and two months.
"Specific consequence that would follow from non- suspension of the sentence would be that the petitioner being a political leader, who has been elected thrice as Member of Legislative Assembly and was also a Member of Parliament once and the petitioner is prospective nominee for the upcoming election of Legislative Assembly in the state of UP, would not be allowed to contest the upcoming elections", his plea said.

He sought stay of the operation of the judgement of the trial court and suspension of the sentence and conviction in the case.