Ex-BJP MLA, 4 others get 3-yr jail in 2003 ballot loot case
The case pertains to events that unfolded during vote counting for the 2003 MLC elections from local bodies in the Basti and Siddharthnagar districts.
A special MP/MLA court in Basti on Tuesday sentenced former BJP MLA Sanjay Jaiswal and four others to three years’ imprisonment in connection with a 2003 case involving the looting of ballot papers and vandalism at a government office during MLC elections. The court also rejected their bail pleas, following which all five were taken into custody and sent to the district jail.
Circle officer (CO) Satyendra Bhushan Tiwari confirmed that the convicts were immediately remanded following the court’s decision.
The verdict was delivered by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Parmod Giri, presiding over the MP/MLA court. The judgment came after the court had already convicted the five under various sections of the Indian Penal Code in 2023, including charges of rioting, assault on public servants, theft, and obstructing official duty.
The case pertains to events that unfolded during vote counting for the 2003 MLC elections from local bodies in the Basti and Siddharthnagar districts. Officials said tensions flared after independent candidate Manish Jaiswal took a lead of 124 votes over BJP-backed candidate Kanchna Singh, wife of then BJP MLA Aditya Vikram Singh.
Following this development, Sanjay Jaiswal, then Block Pramukh Trambak Pathak, Ashok Singh, Irfan Maik, and others allegedly forced entry into the counting centre. They were accused of misbehaving with assistant returning officer Anil Kumar Diwedi and looting ballot papers while demanding a recount.
A case was registered (FIR No 1398/2003) under IPC Sections 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 353 (assault on public servant), 332 (causing hurt to deter public servant from duty), and 381 (theft by clerk or servant), along with provisions of the Criminal Law Amendment Act.
Of the eight originally named in the FIR, two died during the trial, and one turned government witness. The remaining five were convicted in 2023, and their bail pleas were dismissed on April 29, 2025. Notably, Sanjay Jaiswal served as an MLA from 2013 to 2017.
