Major Setback for Former MP MLA Rajendra Bharti: Delhi High Court Dismisses Plea to Stay Conviction

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has dismissed the petition filed by Rajendra Bharti, a disqualified Congress MLA from Madhya Pradesh. Bharti had sought a stay on his conviction in a Rural Development Bank fraud case. The case pertains to the manipulation of bank records between 1998 and 2011 to secure illegal interest payments. Justice Manoj Jain dismissed the petition.

Bharti’s counsel had argued that if his conviction were stayed, the grounds for his disqualification would cease to exist, thereby preventing his Assembly seat from being declared vacant. Following his conviction, Bharti had been disqualified from the State Assembly; the Assembly had issued a notification cancelling his membership representing the Datia constituency.

Challenge to Trial Court Order
In his petition, Bharti challenged the trial court’s order dated April 1, which convicted him, as well as the order dated April 2, which sentenced him to three years of imprisonment. According to a complaint filed in 2015 by the District Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank, Datia, Bharti—who was the bank’s chairman at the time—influenced bank officials to extend the tenure of a ₹10 lakh fixed deposit from three years to 15 years.

Allegations of Fraud
It was further alleged that this action was taken with the intent to benefit the ‘Shri Shyam Sundar Shyam Public Unity and Community Development Organization Trust.’ The organization stood to gain from interest accrued at a rate of 13.5% per annum over the additional 12-year period. On October 7, 2025, the Supreme Court had transferred the case—which was pending in a Madhya Pradesh court—to the presiding judge at Tis Hazari.

The case was eventually transferred to the Rouse Avenue Court. The trial court had also imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh on Bharti and former cashier Raghuvir Sharan Prajapati. They were convicted of offenses including criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery of a valuable security, forgery for the purpose of cheating, and using a forged document as genuine.