Bail granted; BJP says sentence an ‘overreaction’

Union Minister of State for Parliamentary and Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was sentenced to a one-year jail term after he and 19 others were convicted by a Rampur court for breaching prohibitory orders in the run-up to the 2009 Lok Sabha election.

The Minister was later granted bail.

Judicial magistrate Manish Kumar pronounced Mr. Naqvi guilty under Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code, Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act and Section 144 of the Cr.PC.

While Mr. Naqvi termed the case as “politically motivated,” the BJP described the one-year sentence as an “overreaction” to a “peaceful protest.” Mr. Naqvi said he was named in the case when he led a demonstration against the arrest of the Rampur BJP chief.

“In 2009, Section 144 was imposed in Rampur when local BJP workers staged a protest after the arrest of the BJP district president. Over 200 people were named in the charge sheet. It was a politically motivated case,” he said.

According to the Rampur police, Mr. Naqvi’s convoy had been stopped for a security check, which was opposed by the local BJP workers. Subsequently, party workers staged a sit-in outside the police station and even tried to barge in. Mr. Naqvi had addressed the protesters. The police booked Mr. Naqvi along with 19 others for unlawful assembly.

Congress leader Manish Tewari demanded that Mr. Naqvi step down from the Cabinet, according to PTI.