1-year jail term for Union minister Naqvi; gets bail

A Rampur (UP) court on Wednesday sentenced Union minister of state for minority welfare and parliamentary affairs Muqtar Abbas Naqvi to one year in jail for breaching prohibitory orders during campaigning for the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Naqvi was then contesting for the Rampur seat on a BJP ticket, a fight that he lost to the Samajwadi Party's Jaya Pradha, even losing his security deposit in the process.

The court of additional civil judge (senior division) Manish Kumar sentenced Naqvi, along with his 19 supporters, and imposed a fine of Rs 4,000 under sections 143 (rioting), 341 and 342 (wrongful restraint) of the IPC. The court later granted bail to Naqvi, now a Rajya Sabha member, and the others convicted on sureties of Rs 15,000 each.

The case relates to an instance of disturbing the peace during 2009 general elections. Sub-inspector Ram Kishan of the Patwai police station had, on April 24 that year, registered an FIR against Naqvi and the others, including a woman BJP leader, Dolly Randhawa, under charges of rioting.