A special court here on Wednesday slapped a sentence of six months of simple imprisonment to ruling TRS MLA from Khairatabad Danam Nagender and his driver Chutny Raju.
Special Court for trial of MPs/MLAs judge Varaprasad held Mr. Nagender and Mr. Raju guilty of assaulting a person and awarded the punishment. Along with the jail term, the MLA and his driver were imposed a fine of ₹1,000 each. In default of payment of fine, they should undergo one more month of simple imprisonment, the judge announced.
The case was registered against Mr. Nagender when he was the minister of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh Cabinet. He was with the ruling Congress party then. According to Special Public Prosecutor G. Narayana, who conducted the prosecution, one Subba Rao lodged a complaint against Mr. Nagender and Mr. Raju with Banjara Hills police in 2013.
“Rao was driving a vehicle and stopped before a traffic signal. Raju who was travelling in another vehicle had an altercation with him over stopping at the signal,” the Special PP explained. Both went to the police station. According to Mr. Narayana, Mr. Nagender (who was minister then) came to the police station where the driver attacked Subba Rao.
Based on Mr. Rao’s complaint, a criminal case under sections 323 (assault) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code was registered against them. After conduct of the trial, the judge held both of them guilty under section 323 of the IPC. They were acquitted of the charge under section 506.
The judge suspended the sentence for a period of one month so that the convicts can go for an appeal.