The MP/MLA court in Lucknow announced a two-year jail term for former Bollywood actor and Congress leader Raj Babbar, in a 26-year-old case on Thursday, 7 July. Babbar was convicted for assualting a polling officer in the general elections of Lucknow in May, 1996.
However, the politician has received an interim bail and will soon approach the sessions court to challenge the MP/MLA court's judgement. The actor-politician was present in the courtroom when the verdict was announced, and has also been assessed with a fine of Rs 6,500, as per a report by the Hindustan Times.
As per the same report, Ambrish Kumar Srivastava, the additional chief judicial magistrate, issued the directive on 7 July. The court then reversed the order, after concluding the hearing of the case on 24 June.
Babbar, who was then a Samajwadi Party candidate, contested against BJP's Atal Bihari Vajpayee for the Lok Sabha seat in the 1996 genral elecctions of Lucknow. However, Vajpayee went on to win the Lok Sabha polls by a sizable majority.
Besides, the actor-turned-politician has worked in massive Bollywood films of the 80s. Some of his works include, Insaf Ka Tarazu, Nikaah, Sansar, Waaris and Prem Geet.
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