Road blockade case: Congress leader Pradeep Jain, 13 others get 2 yrs jail

A court here on Friday sentenced senior Congress leader and former Union minister of state Pradeep Jain Aditya and 13 others to two years' imprisonment in connection with a 2013 road blockade held to protest power cuts, a case lawyer said.

However, all of them were released on a personal bond and granted a month to appeal the verdict, he said.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM-I) and Special MP-MLA Court Judge Anil Kumar Saptam convicted Aditya and others under various sections of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code and the Criminal Law Amendment Act, a case lawyer said.

He said the case pertains to a June 11, 2013, protest by the Congress near Parichha Thermal Power Plant over electricity issues, where party workers allegedly blocked the Jhansi-Kanpur highway at the call of Jain, causing a massive traffic jam.

All convicts were released on a personal bond. They have been granted a month's time to appeal against the verdict, he added.

Jain appeared emotional after the sentencing and told reporters that he would continue to fight for the issues of Bundelkhand residents. He expressed pain that his workers were also punished.

His counsel Vivek Bajpai said they would challenge the judgement, citing investigation irregularities.

Besides Jain, those convicted are Rajneesh Srivastava, Naved Khan, Rahul Rai, Sher Khan, Sohail Khan, Saurabh Jain, Naresh Belhatiya, Rahul Gupta, Shadab Ahmad, Manoj Kumar, Virendra Singh, Harish Kapoor and Salman Ahmad.