Delhi AAP MLA Naresh Yadav gets 2-year sentence in 2016 desecration case

Chandigarh: A court in Punjab's Malerkotla district on Saturday awarded a two-year sentence to AAP MLA from Delhi's Mehrauli Naresh Yadav in a 2016 case of desecration of the Quran.

The court of additional district and sessions judge Parminder Singh Grewal convicted Yadav in the case on Friday and pronounced the verdict on Saturday.

A fine of Rs 11,000 was also imposed on Yadav who appeared before the court when the sentence was pronounced.

The court upheld the two-year sentence of two others -- ”Vijay Kumar and Gaurav Kumar -- and acquittal of another accused Nand Kishore by a lower court.

Yadav has been convicted under Sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

Yadav was acquitted in the sacrilege case in March 2021 by a lower court. However, complainant Mohammad Ashraf filed an appeal against his acquittal.

On June 24, 2016, torn pages of the Quran were found scattered on a road in Malerkotla. This led to violence and burning of vehicles by an angry mob. Four persons, including the AAP MLA, were arrested in the case.

Initially, the police had booked Vijay, Gaurav and Kishore. Later, AAP MLA Yadav was arrested in the case.