LI Network
Published on: 07 September 2023 at 09:54 IST
The Jharkhand High Court made a significant decision by dismissing a plea filed by Congress MLA Pradeep Yadav, who had requested the transfer of a criminal case lodged against him from Dumka to Bokaro.
The case in question pertains to allegations of sexual exploitation brought against Yadav by a female worker of the JVM-P party in 2019. This legal matter has been under consideration in a Dumka court, and earlier this month, a similar plea by Yadav to have the sexual harassment case dismissed was also denied.
After carefully reviewing the arguments presented, Justice Subhash Chand, presiding over the case, had previously reserved the order.
Pradeep Yadav, who switched to the Congress party after securing victory in the 2019 assembly elections on a JVM-P ticket from Poraiyahat, currently faces prosecution in the MP-MLA court located in Dumka.
The initial incident led to the filing of an FIR after the woman, a member of JVM-P and a practicing advocate in the high court, accused Yadav of attempting to assault her in April 2019, following a meeting at a Deoghar hotel where they were discussing strategies for the Lok Sabha elections. Fortunately, she managed to escape the situation. Furthermore, she claimed that the MLA and his supporters subsequently issued threats against her.
In response to these allegations, Bimalkirti Singh, the legal representative for Yadav, argued in the high court that his client was a victim of political animosity and had been falsely implicated.
On the other side, the victim’s advocate, Gautam Kumar, asserted that there existed prima facie evidence suggesting Yadav’s attempt to exploit the woman by offering her political advantages.
It is worth noting that after the high court rejected Yadav’s request for anticipatory bail, he voluntarily surrendered before a special court in July 2019, ultimately being granted bail by the high court in September of the same year.