BJP MP convicted for two years in 12-yr-old case

A special MP/MLA court has sentenced Ram Shankar Katheria, BJP MP from Etawah, for two years in a 12-year-old assault and rioting case in what is likely to cost him his parliament membership.

The BJP MP's conviction comes a day after the Supreme Court stayed Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's conviction in a criminal defamation case, paving the way for restoration of his Lok Sabha membership.

The special court for expeditious trial of criminal cases involving MPs or MLAs found Katheria guilty under Sections 147 (rioting) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC in a 2012 case for allegedly roughing up officials from Torrent Power after complaints came to him that the private electricity supplier had been overcharging consumers.


Katheria had served as minister of state for the ministry of human resources development in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first council of ministers. He is also a former chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes.