New Delhi, April 2 (NationPress) Following a conviction for criminal conspiracy, Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti has received a sentence of three years in prison from the Special MP-MLA Court located at Delhi’s Rouse Avenue on Thursday.

Bharti, who represents the Datia Assembly constituency in the Gwalior division of Madhya Pradesh, was found guilty by the Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday and subsequently placed in judicial custody. On Thursday, the court issued its sentencing and granted him bail after he provided a personal bond of Rs 50,000.

The court has allowed Rajendra Bharti 30 days to appeal the decision in the High Court. Another individual involved in the case, Raghuveer Sharan Prajapati, also received a three-year prison sentence and was granted bail on the same day.

After the ruling, Bharti commented to IANS, stating, "I respect the court’s decision, but this is politically motivated. My political opponent orchestrated a conspiracy. The bank manager involved is a fraud himself."

The case involves serious allegations of forgery, cheating, criminal breach of trust, and criminal conspiracy, specifically under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 409, and 120B of the IPC. It revolves around alleged irregularities linked to a bank fixed deposit held in the name of Bharti’s mother, Savitri Devi Shyam, dating back to 1998.

In its ruling, the court noted that Bharti and co-accused Raghuveer Sharan Prajapati, along with Savitri Devi and possibly other unidentified individuals, engaged in a criminal scheme to defraud the complainant bank, the Zila Sahkari Krishi Aur Gramin Vikas Bank in Datia, by improperly continuing to receive interest at an inflated rate beyond 2011, despite the original fixed deposit term being just three years.

Interestingly, Bharti himself initiated a request to the Supreme Court to move his trial from the MP/MLA Court in Gwalior to Delhi.

In response to Bharti's petition, the Supreme Court transferred the trial to the MP/MLA Court at the Rouse Avenue Court complex in Delhi in October 2025. The court remarked, “The bank documents, deemed valuable securities, were forged as part of the scheme to defraud the bank.”

Dismissing Bharti’s claims of being politically targeted, the court asserted that “The assertion that the prosecution's case is politically driven is unfounded. The accused has not substantiated any such claims. Rather, this case involves forgery and cheating that occurred between 1998 and 2011, predating the alleged political rivalry.”

Between 1998 and 2001, Bharti held the position of Chairman of the bank’s Board of Directors while also serving as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Shyam Sundar Shyam Jan Sahyog Evam Samudayik Vikas Sansthan, which is led by his mother.

According to the prosecution, Bharti exploited his official role and conspired with bank employee Raghuveer Sharan Prajapati to manipulate bank records, including the ledger, fixed deposit counter-slip, and fixed deposit receipt. Allegedly, the fixed deposit term was extended from three years to ten years, and then to fifteen years, facilitating the continued accumulation of interest at a rate of 13.5 percent.

Notably, Bharti emerged victorious in the 2023 Assembly elections for the Datia seat, defeating the BJP's three-time MLA and prominent state Home Minister, Narottam Mishra. Previously, he had finished as the runner-up to Mishra in the elections held in 2008, 2013, and 2018.

He had won the same seat on a Congress ticket in 1985 and as a candidate of the Samajwadi Party in 1998.