A local court in Patna on Saturday, 15 December, convicted suspended RJD MLA Raj Ballabh Yadav and five others for raping a minor girl two years ago.
Special MP & MLA court judge-cum-Additional District and Sessions (ADJ)(IX) Parshuram Yadav convicted the MLA under Section 376 of Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) 2012. The five other accused were also convicted under Section 120(B) of the IPC.
The court has fixed 21 December as the next date of hearing the arguments on the issue of quantum of punishment (sentence), Special Public Prosecutor Shyameshwar Dayal told reporters outside the court room.
The prosecution would press for maximum sentence in the case as the MLA hatched a criminal conspiracy to rape the minor girl, he added.
Raj Ballabh Yadav, the suspended RJD MLA, may lose his membership of the Assembly as he has been convicted under sections that attract a minimum sentence of six years, which may extend up to life term, Dayal said.
Dayal said he would lose membership under section 8 (3) of the Representation of People Act, 1951.
As per section 8(3) of RP Act, 1951, a person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of six years since his release.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA from Nawada was accused of raping a minor girl at his residence in Bihar Sharif on 6 February 2016.
The RJD had suspended him from the party on 14 February 2016.
After evading arrest for considerable time, the MLA surrendered after a local court issued proclamation notice and an order to attach his properties for not surrendering before the police.
The Bihar Police, in its charge sheet, had also named a woman and her relatives as accused on the grounds that they were supplying women and girls to the RJD MLA.
On 24 November 2016, the Supreme Court had cancelled Yadav's bail granted by the Patna High Court. The top court had said that there is a "possibility of interdicting" fair trial by him if released.
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