Bachchu Kadu, ex-minister and four-time MLA from Achalpur in Amravati district of Vidarbha | File Photo
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has suspended the sentence of Omprakash alias Bacchu Kadu, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Achalpur in Maharashtra, who was convicted for assault on a public servant and insulting him in 2017.
Kadu, a former Maharashtra minister during 2019-22, had approached the court in 2023 challenging the Nashik Sessions court’s order sentencing him to one year in prison for assault or use of criminal force on a public servant and intentional insult. The sessions court had granted him bail and suspended his sentence to enable him to approach the HC.
Justice Shivkumar Dige, on Monday, suspended his sentence pending appeal saying: “The conviction imposed on the applicant in Sessions Case No. 176 of 2021 under Section 353 and 504 of the Indian Penal Code is suspended during the pendency of the appeal No. 406 of 2023.” A reasoned order will be available later.
On Monday, his advocates argued that the sessions court had not thoroughly verified the witnesses and there were procedural lapses in the trial proceedings. They also argued that the alleged incident occurred in a moment of agitation and was not a premeditated act.
In 2017, he was booked by the Sarkarwada police in Nashik on allegations that he had abused and attempted to hit Nashik Municipal Commissioner Abhishek Krishna.
Kadu was allegedly a part of a group of protestors that was agitating over the issue of non-utilisation of funds reserved for persons with disabilities, organised as Prahar Apang Kranti. He and others went to Krishna’s office to discuss the issue. However, a dispute ensued and Kadu allegedly charged towards Krishna and abused him.
He was convicted by Nashik sessions court which he challenged before the HC. In 2023, Justice Bharati Dangre had suspended his sentence observing that the “sentence is minuscule in nature”. Pending appeal, the HC had granted him bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 25, 000 along with sureties of the same amount.
