In what must come as a major relief to BJP Goshamahal MLA T Raja Singh, the Telangana High Court today stayed his one-year jail term, ordered by a special court set up to try criminal cases against MLAs and MPs.
The high court then adjourned the hearing of the matter to next month.
The special court had sentenced the MLA, who was being tried for assaulting a police official, to one year in jail. He had promptly approached the High Court in a bid to overturn the sentence after the verdict was issued.
Following his involvement in protests against a beef festival organised by the students of the Osmania University in 2015, the police had taken him into preventive custody, and had moved him to the Bollaram police station.
The trouble started when the police officials on duty, including SI Mallesh, tried to prevent other BJP leaders from meeting Singh. This prompted Singh to assault Mallesh and threaten him. A charge sheet on the matter was filed in 2019.
The Bollaram police had booked him for crimes under Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging duties) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. The special court's bench, headed by judge Ch V R R Varaprasad, had found him
guilty of the charges, and had announced its verdict on January 29. The firebrand BJP leader was then sentenced to one year in prison, and had been directed to pay a fine of Rs 5,000.