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A special court in Delhi convicted Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti on Wednesday (April 1, 2026) in connection with an over 10-year-old fraud case relating to a rural co-operative bank in his constituency of Datia.
The court sent the legislator and another accused, Raghuvir Sharan Prajapati, to Tihar Jail and is likely to pronounce the sentence on Thursday. Mr. Bharti, a third-term MLA who had defeated Bharatiya Janata Party heavyweight Narottam Mishra in the 2023 Assembly poll, could lose his Assembly membership.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Bharti’s office said that they are preparing to challenge the order in the Delhi High Court.
The case against Mr. Bharti and his mother Savitri Shyam was filed in July, 2015 by the Co-operative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank (ARDB), Datia, in a local court for allegedly making illegal withdrawals of interest amount on a Rs10 lakh fixed deposit (FD) for 13 years as well as using his influence to increase the term of the FD, purchased in 1998, from original three years to 10 and 15 years. Mr. Prajapati, an employee of the bank, was also made an accused in the case for alleged forgery to change the term of the FD receipt.
Mr. Bharti was the chairman of the bank at the time of FD purchase and when its term was changed. As per the bank’s allegations, the interest amount was started to be withdrawn before the FD got mature and continued until 2011 at the higher rates of 1998.
In 2025, the case was transferred to Delhi on the directions of the Supreme Court on a petition filed by Mr. Bharti.
During a statement recorded in 2016, Mr. Bharti also admitted that his mother had been suffering form paralysis for the past 40 years and was about 88 years old. The submission also prompted the court to presume that Mr. Bharti may have submitted documents to the bank in his mother’s name.
“It is highly possible that Bharti, serving as chairperson [of the bank], had those applications submitted. After all, his mother was suffering from paralysis for a long time and was very old at that time, according to Bharti’s own admission,” the court noted.
In the final order seen by The Hindu, the court said, “The sum and substance of the above discussion is that accused Bharti and accused Prajapati, along with Savitri Devi and possibly other unknown persons, entered into a criminal conspiracy. The object of this conspiracy was to cheat the complainant bank by continuing to draw interest at a much higher rate beyond 2011, which was the initial fixed deposit duration of three years. In furtherance of this conspiracy, the bank documents, which are valuable securities, were forged. The forgery was part of the aim to cheat the bank.”
“Both accused Bharti and Prajapati are, therefore, guilty of criminal conspiracy punishable under Section 120B of IPC [Indian Penal Code] read with Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 of IPC,” it said.
Mr. Bharti, a third term MLA, had defeated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) heavyweight and then State Home Minister Narottam Mishra in a fiercely fought contest in the 2023 Assembly elections.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Bharti’s office said that they are preparing to challenge the order in the Delhi High Court.
“The terms of the sentence are likely to be clear by tomorrow and based on that, we are going to challenge the verdict before the Delhi High Court,” his office said.
The verdict comes as another challenge for the Madhya Pradesh Congress which already facing the risk of losing another MLA.
Earlier in March, the membership of party MLA from Vijaypur Mukesh Malhotra was invalidated by the Madhya Pradesh High Court for suppressing information about pending criminal cases against him in election affidavits during the bypoll in November, 2024, and declared BJP leader Ram Niwas Rawat, then a State Cabinet Minister and runner-up, as the elected MLA from the seat.
Mr. Malhotra, however, has challenged the order in the Supreme Court and gotten a stay on it. Although, the SC has maintained various restrictions imposed on Mr. Malhotra.
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