The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed the application for a stay on the conviction of former MLA Rajendra Bharti from Datia, Madhya Pradesh. His disqualification will remain until his conviction is stayed or his appeal against the judgement is allowed.
Bharti was convicted and sentenced to three years' imprisonment in the Gramin Vikas Bank cheating case in April 2026. His sentence has already been suspended. Recently, a midterm poll has been announced by the election commission.Justice Manoj Jain dismissed the application moved on behalf of Rajendra Bharti after hearing the arguments on his application.
Justice Jain pronounced the order in the case which involves cheating and embezzlement of funds from a rural development bank.Senior advocate Mohit Mathur appeared for the respondent, and advocate Abhik Chimni for the petitioner Bharti.It was submitted by senior counsel that the petitioner has been convicted and a process for the midterm poll has been issued. The process cannot be reversed.
Rajendra Bharti, a former three-time MLA from the Datia constituency in Madhya Pradesh and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress, had challenged a April 2026 judgment of the Rouse Avenue Court convicting him in a corruption case involving forgery of bank records and cheating a cooperative bank through a fixed deposit scheme.
The case concerns a ₹10 lakh fixed deposit made in 1998 in the Zila Sahkari Krishi Gramin Vikas Bank in the name of Shri Shyam Sunder Shyam Jan Sahyog Evam Samajik Vikas Sansthan, a trust with which Bharti was associated as a trustee. According to the prosecution, the fixed deposit was originally created for a period of three years. However, bank records were subsequently altered to falsely reflect that the tenure had been extended first to 10 years and then to 15 years.
These forged entries enabled the beneficiary trust to continue receiving annual interest of approximately ₹1.35 lakh well beyond the expiry of the original deposit period, resulting in losses to the cooperative bank until 2011.
Meanwhile, advocate Abhik Chimni argued that once the conviction is stayed, the vacancy of the seat of MLA will go. He referred to judgement of the Supreme Court.Bharti has challenged his conviction in the Rural Development Bank cheating case. He had also sought a direction to the election commission directing it not to issue a notification of Mid term poll on the seat that became vacant after his 3-year sentence.
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