Kanpur: A court here on August 6 held Uttar Pradesh minister Rakesh Sachan guilty in a three-decade-old Arms Acts case, after which the leader “disappeared” from the courtroom “without furnishing bail bonds”.
The minister, however, denied the disappearance charge, claiming his case “wasn’t listed for the final verdict”.
Prosecution officer (PO) Richa Gupta said Sachan left the courtroom soon after his conviction when the court asked the defence counsel to make arguments over the quantum of punishment.
Sachan went away “without furnishing bail bonds” and a first information report (FIR) will be lodged against him in this regard, Gupta said.
Talking to news agency PTI over the phone, Kanpur commissioner of police B.P. Jogdand confirmed to have received a written complaint against Sachan. He, however, did not elaborate on the content of the complaint, saying he hasn’t personally seen it.
Sachan “fled” with the court’s conviction order, which was given to him for putting his signature, said a senior official on condition of anonymity.
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The decision to register an FIR against the minister was taken after a marathon meeting with senior judicial officials believing that letting him off without action might land the presiding officer in trouble, the official added.
Interacting with mediapersons in Kanpur Dehat district later, Sachan denied the charge of leaving the courtroom in a clandestine manner. Admitting that he had gone to the court for some work, the minister claimed that his case “wasn’t listed for the final verdict”.
He said his lawyer has moved an application seeking for him an exemption from personal appearance. The minister said he will honour the court verdict, whatever it may be.
Giving information about the case, Gupta said in 1991, police had recovered an illegal firearm from Sachan.
Sachan had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after leaving the Congress just before the assembly polls earlier this year.
He had entered politics in the early 90s, joining the Samajwadi Party (SP). In 1993 and 2002, he was elected an MLA from the Ghatampur assembly seat before winning parliamentary elections in 2009 from the Fatehpur Lok Sabha seat.
