Former Union MoS and BJP MP surrenders before court, gets bail

Agra: Former Union minister of state and BJP MP Ram Shankar Katheria, on Wednesday, surrendered himself before a special court for MPs and MLAs in Agra after the court issued a non-bailable warrant against him last week in a nine-year-old rail blockade case.

The BJP MP from Etawah, who had failed to appear in the court earlier, was granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 20,000 and has been asked to appear in the court, when called for.

Speaking to TOI on Wednesday, Katheria’s counsel Devender Singh said, “The court of special judge Uma Kant Jindal granted bail to former minister and asked him to be present whenever required.”

Meanwhile, former MP of Fatehpur Sikri, Chaudhary Babulal, failed to appear before the court on Wednesday. He was also served a non-bailable warrant by the court in the 2010 rail blockade case.

Advocate Devender added, “The court has given November 23 date for Chaudhary Babulal to appear, as he, too, has been served a non-bailable warrant for not appearing in the alleged case of participating in rail blockade in 2010 while agitating for high court bench in Agra.”

The court, on Wednesday, also granted bail to Agra mayor Navin Jain for a similar case which was registered in Nai Ki Mandi.

Moreover, the court had last week issued a non-bailable warrant against BJP MLA of Agra-South assembly constituency Yogendra Upadhyay, Katheria’s personal assistant Anil Chaudhary, and party worker Manoj Rijora for not appearing in the 2010 case.

The BJP MLA’s counsel Hemander Sharma said, “Yogendra and two others will be present on November 20 in the court and apply for bail. They were allegedly part of agitation for HC bench demand in Agra.”

Sharma added the court had earlier issued non-bailable warrant against Fatehpur Sikri MP Raj Kumar Chahar as well.