Convicted for raping minor, BJP MLA disqualified from UP House

Lucknow, December 23

BJP MLA Ramdular Gond, who was recently sentenced to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a girl nine years ago, has been disqualified as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, official sources said on Saturday.

According to the Representation of the People Act, a lawmaker sentenced to imprisonment for two years or more shall be disqualified “from the date of such conviction” and remain disqualified for another six years after serving time.

Ahsan Ullah Khan, additional district and sessions judge of the MP-MLA court in Sonbhadra, had also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on Gond. The sum would be given to the rape survivor, who is now married and mother of an eight-year-old girl.

Special Public Prosecutor Satyaprakash Tripathi said the court held the MLA from the Duddhi seat, reserved for Scheduled Tribes, guilty on December 12 and announced the quantum of punishment three days later. The rape incident took place in 2014 and a case was registered against Gond under IPC Sections 376 (rape) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) as well as under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act on the complaint of the rape survivor’s brother.