A sessions court in Indore sentenced Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and five others to one year jail term each in connection with a 2011 case pertaining to an assault on a Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha worker.
Singh, former MP Premchand Guddu and four others, however, were granted bail by the Indore District and Sessions Court.
The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Singh termed the case fake and politically motivated and said he will appeal in the High Court.
The case dates back to July 2011 when the BJYM workers had stopped Singh's convoy in Ujjain and demonstrated with black flags. It was alleged that nine people including Digvijaya Singh had beaten up the workers with sticks. Following the incident, a case was registered against the nine accused including Digvijaya Singh and former Ujjain MP Premchand Guddu. Section 307 (attempt to murder) was imposed for the assault.
Speaking to reporters here, Singh said, "It is a nearly 10-year-old case and a fake case. Our name was not there in the FIR but was added due to political pressure. We will appeal in the High Court."
Rahul Sharma, Singh's lawyer toldthat the initial charge sheet did not have his name which was added later on.
"In this case, a charge sheet was initially presented against four people in which Digvijaya Singh and Premchand Guddu were not there. Later, the complainant made them accused by applying for Section 319. We had put a revision in the High Court. Section 307 was removed and section 326 was imposed, the trial of which went on in Ujjain and Bhopal and today the decision has been announced in Indore," he said.
Asked about the verdict, the lawyer informed that the BJYM worker's hand was fractured by four people in which three were acquitted.
"The verdict said that the injured BJYM worker Ritesh Khavia was assaulted by four people and sustained a fracture in his hand. Punishment of one year imprisonment each and fine of Rs 5,000 was announced under Section 109," the advocate said.
"Besides Digvijaya Singh and Premchand Guddu, Jay Singh Darbar, Anant Meena, Dilip Choudhary and Aslam Lala were sentenced. Mahesh Parmar, Mukesh Bhati and Hemant Singh Chauhan were acquitted. All the six accused including Digvijaya Singh were released by the court on a surety of Rs 25,000 and bail of Rs 25,000 each," the lawyer added.
The Congress leader also reacted to the verdict of the court on Twitter and said that his name which was absent in the FIR initially was later added under political pressure and he "has never been afraid of BJP and will never be afraid of them".
"In an 11-year-old case in which my name was not even in the FIR, it was added later under political pressure, I was punished. I am a non-violent person and have always been opposed to violent activities. The order is of the ADJ Court, we will appeal in the High Court. I have neither been afraid of BJP and Sangh, nor will I ever be afraid, no matter how many false cases are created and how much punishment is given," Digvijaya Singh tweeted in Hindi.
( With inputs from ANI )
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