Jail for Delhi MLA in Malerkotla Quran sacrilege case

A local court has convicted AAP MLA from Mehrauli in Delhi Naresh Yadav and sentenced him to two-year jail along with a fine of Rs 11,000 in connection with the Malerkotla Quran sacrilege case.

While the conviction orders were passed on Friday, the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Parminder Singh Grewal pronounced the sentence today.

Yadav has been awarded two-year imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 5,000 in connection with a crime committed under Section 295 A, two-year imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 5,000 for an offence under Section 153 A and six-month jail along with a fine of Rs 1,000 in connection with an offence under Section 120 B. All sentences will run concurrently. Yadav was taken into custody immediately after the pronouncement of the conviction orders on Friday and presented in a court under tight security arrangements today again. Kazam Ali Khan, advocate for complainant Mohammad Ashraf, and NS Dhaliwal, advocate for defendant Naresh Yadav, were present in the court. In March 2021, Yadav, along with another accused Nand Kishore, was acquitted by a lower court as the police failed to prove their allegations.

Two brothers — Vijay Kumar and Gaurav Kumar — were then sentenced to two-year imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 11,000.

Ashraf, a resident of Malerkotla, had filed an appeal against Yadav’s acquittal in the Additional Sessions Court, Sangrur (now Malerkotla), on April 19, 2021. After the recovery of torn pages of the Quran from Malerkotla city on June 24, 2016, the police had initially registered a case against Vijay Kumar and two others — Nand Kishore and Gaurav Kumar. However, later the name of AAP MLA Yadav was added on the basis of circumstantial evidence and statements of other accused.

Yadav was arrested on July 24, 2016, on a charge of conspiracy to spread social unrest. Yadav moved an application in a local court in September 2018 seeking an inquiry into the “suspicious transfer” of Rs 90 lakh to the bank account of Vijay Kumar and his “links” with the RSS.

Meanwhile, while coming out of the court, Yadav alleged that his implication in the case was politically motivated.

Malerkotla, a Muslim-dominated town, remained tense following violence over the incident that occurred in the holy month of Ramzan in 2016. Vehicles were torched and public property was damaged by activists of several organisations following which three cases were registered against over 300 persons for hurting religious sentiments, damaging property and assault.

Another AAP MLA held in extortion case

Naresh Balyan, AAP MLA from Delhi’s Uttam Nagar, was arrested on Saturday in an extortion case lodged last year. The MLA was called for questioning and later arrested, which AAP called “illegal”.