BJP MP Ram Shankar Katheria Gets 2-Years Imprisonment In Assault Case

An Agra Court on Saturday convicted Bharatiya Janata Party MP Ram Shankar Katheria to two-year imprisonment over a 2011 assault case.

Former Union minister Katheria is accused of assaulting an employee of the power supply company way back in 2011.

Reportedly, he is likely to be disqualified from the Lok Sabha after the court's order. He is the sitting Lok Sabha member from Etawah in Uttar Pradesh.

An elected representative sentenced for any offense for two years or more faces immediate disqualification under the Representation of People Act, 1951.

"I appeared before the court normally. Court has given a decision against me today. I respect the court, I have the right to appeal and I will exercise it", Katheria was quoted as saying.

Ram Shankar Katheria is a Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Etawah's Uttar Pradesh. He served as the Union Minister of State, Ministry of Human Resource Development from November 2014 to July 2016.

Katheria has also served as the chairperson of National Commission for Scheduled Castes. He is a member of Parliament's Standing Committee on Defence and Consultative Committee, Ministry of Home Affairs.

In 2019, Katheria was booked in a case related to attack on a toll plaza staff in Agra. Bodyguards of the lawmaker allegedly beat toll plaza employees and fired in the air. The assault was caught on the toll plaza's CCTV cameras. But the BJP leader alleged that it was toll plaza employees who had attacked his security guards, forcing them to open fire in self defence.