Allahabad High Court: In an appeal against order passed by Additional Sessions Judge/Special Judge (MP/MLA Court) whereby Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister Nand Gopal Gupta (Nandi)has been convicted for the offence under Section 323 read with Section 149 of the Penal Code, 1860 (‘IPC') and under Section 147 read with Section 149 IPC, the Single Judge Bench of Rajiv Gupta,J. suspended 1 year jail term of Nandi in a 9-year-old assault case and granted him bail.
In the case at hand, in 2014 a case was registered against Nand Gopal Gupta. He was a candidate of the Congress in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. During the campaign, a criminal case was registered against him, alleging that he instigated his supporters to attack the workers of the Samajwadi Party, fired at them and used caste-based language. The Trial Court awarded him one year imprisonment and fine of Rs 10,000/-. The Special Judge acquitted him of the charges of allegedly committing atrocities on the Scheduled Caste Community members but convicted him under Sections 323 and 147 IPC.
Under Section 323 IPC, he was awarded the sentence of six months simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 500/. Further, under Section 147 he was sentenced to one-year simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 5000/-with default stipulations. Challenging the said conviction, he filed the present appeal.
Nandi submitted that he is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case due to ulterior motive. Further, he submitted that the maximum sentence awarded to him is of one year and he has already been directed to be released on interim bail by the Court below vide order dated 25-1-2023.
The Government Advocate could not dispute the aforesaid facts and the fact that the maximum sentence awarded to the Nandi is one year, and he has no criminal history to his credit, and he had already been released on interim bail by the Court below.
The Court said that it is evident that the maximum sentence awarded to Nandi is only for a period of one year and he is already on interim bail. Further, as the final disposal of the appeal will take a long time on account of heavy dockets, as such, he has made out a case for bail.
[Nand Gopal Gupta v. State of U.P, 2023 SCC OnLine All 96, order dated 20-03-2023]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Counsel for Appellant: Advocate Imran Ullah, Advocate Mohammad Khalid
Counsel for Respondent: Government Advocate
