A court in Gujarat Wednesday once again rejected Congress MLA Bhagvan Barad's petition seeking a stay to his conviction in an illegal mining case, which could lead to his disqualification.
Principal district judge M M Babi at Veraval in Gir Somnath district rejected Barad's application.
Barad, who won the 2017 Assembly election from Talala, can get disqualified if he fails to get a stay from a higher court, as he has been sentenced to more than two years of imprisonment.
The Gujarat High Court had last week set aside the Veraval court's earlier order refusing to stay Barad's conviction as the order did not give detailed reasoning. The high court had sent it back to the district court.
The Veraval court Wednesday passed a detailed 11-page order while rejecting his plea for stay to the conviction, special public prosecutor Tushar Gokani said.
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Barad has been convicted under section 379 (punishment for theft) of the Indian Penal Code in a case of illegal mining and theft of minerals.
The MLA's attempt to get his conviction stayed has led to tortuous litigation.
The sessions court at Veraval had at first stayed his conviction after he was sentenced to two years and nine months' in jail in the mineral theft case by a magistrate.
The state government challenged the stay order in the high court, which remanded the matter back to the sessions court.
The sessions court heard the case afresh, and held in April this year that his conviction cannot be stayed.
The MLA challenged the order in the high court.
The high court, last Wednesday, set aside the sessions court order for lack of reasoning, and sent the matter back to the same court.
The case of illegal mining against him goes back to 24 years.
Barad was, meanwhile, disqualified as MLA by Gujarat Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi, following which the Election Commission declared his seat as vacant and announced a by-election.
He moved the Supreme Court against the EC's March 10 notification. On April 1, the apex court stayed the EC's order.
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