New Delhi, 02 April (H.S.):

Special Judge Digvijay Singh of the Rouse Avenue Court in New Delhi has sentenced Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti of Datia, Madhya Pradesh, to three years’ imprisonment in a bank‑fraud case. The court had held Bharti guilty on April 1 in connection with the fraudulent withdrawal and manipulation of a fixed‑deposit scheme.

The judge also convicted Raghuveer Sharan Prajapati alongside Bharti. The court found Bharti guilty under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing the bank to deliver property. The case dates back to August 24, 1998, when Savitri Shyam (Bharti’s mother) opened a fixed deposit of ₹10 lakh at the District Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank at an interest rate of 13.5 percent for three years. This deposit was made in the name of a trust called “Shri Shyam Sundar Shyam Jan Sahayog evam Samajik Vikas Sansthan,” which had been founded by Savitri Shyam’s husband, Shyam Sundar Shyam.

The prosecution alleged that instead of allowing the fixed deposit to mature, Savitri Shyam began drawing ₹1.35 lakh as interest every year from 1999 onward, continuing this practice for 13 years until 2011. It was further alleged that sitting as a director on the bank’s board, Rajendra Bharti exerted pressure on bank officials to release interest payments to his mother, in violation of the fixed‑deposit terms.

Officials were said to have tampered with the bank receipts, account records, and the fixed‑deposit certificates, altering the original three‑year term to 10 and later 15 years so that higher‑rate interest could be disbursed for a longer period.

The complainant bank lodged an FIR in Madhya Pradesh on July 29, 2015, initially naming Rajendra Bharti and his mother as accused; Prajapati was added as an accused later.

Bharti subsequently approached the Supreme Court seeking transfer of the case, and the apex court ordered the trial proceedings to be shifted from Madhya Pradesh to Delhi. Savitri Shyam had passed away earlier in the course of the proceedings, leaving Bharti and Prajapati as the principal accused.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar