No bail for disgraced ex-minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati

A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court on Wednesday rejected the bail application of former Samajwadi Party minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, currently under arrest for rape.

Judge Justice Uma Shanker Sharma rejected his application on the grounds that the charges against him were serious and so he should not be granted bail, since he might attempt to influence the process. Earlier, the Allahabad High Court had also rejected his bail application.

An SIT has filed the charge sheet against Prajapati and six others for gangraping a Chitrakoot woman and her minor daughter in March 2017 under the POCSO Act.

A close associate of Samajwadi Party patriarch Muayam Singh Yadav, the FIR against Prajapti and others was lodged following the SC's intervention. He was arrested by the Lucknow police on March 15.

The former mining minister in the Akhilesh Yadav cabinet was also alleged to have paid Rs 10 crore to a judge through two senior lawyers to seek release from the jail, which he was then granted in April. Taking a serious note of this alleged pay-off, the judge was later suspended by Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.

MURKY HISTORY

• Alleged to have gangraped a woman and minor daughter.
   
• Reportedly bribed a judge for bail; judge was suspended