Former UP Cong Leader Sentenced to One Year in Prison in Defamation Charge

In a four-year-old defamation case, former Uttar Pradesh Congress head Ajay Kumar Lallu was given a one-year jail term.

The two-time MLA from Kushinagar's Tamkuhi Raj seat, was also given a punishment of Rs 10,000 by the court of additional chief judicial magistrate, Ambrish Kumar Srivastava.

Lallu said after the judgment, "I respect the court's ruling. I'm going to appeal it to a higher court."

When Yogi Adityanath was chief minister for the first time, Shrikant Sharma served as the energy minister. The Congress politician was arrested for making "defamatory" comments against him.

Shrikant was charged by Lallu of being complicit in the Dewan Housing Finance Corp Limited (DHFL) fraud. Shrikant Sharma dropped all charges and asked Lallu to apologize.

Sharma then launched a defamation complaint when the Congressman refused to retract his claims. In its ruling, the court noted that the leader of a significant political party should have shown restraint and refrained from making the accusation.

The leader received court-issued bail and was not detained.

In the meanwhile, Shrikant Sharma was the target of unfounded and politically driven accusations, according to attorney K.K. Mishra, who is also a part of the BJP's legal cell. The court's ruling has established this."