The Supreme Court refused to grant an urgent hearing to a plea of former Uttar Pradesh MP Umankant Yadav seeking suspension of his conviction and seven years sentence in a forgery case to enable him to contest the upcoming assembly elections in the state in 2017. The plea was mentioned before a vacation bench comprising Justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy, which said that there is no urgency in the matter and the petition can be taken up in regular course.

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Advocate Dushyant Prashar, appearing for Yadav who has also been three times MLA of Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, said that he has been a former MP and legislator and if his conviction and sentence are not suspended till the pendency of appeals, he may not be able to contest the upcoming polls.

"We are not concerned with whether he is an MLA or MP. All are equal before law. There is no urgency in the matter," the bench said. Yadav, who is out on bail since 2013, was awarded seven years jail term in 2012 in a forgery case.

In 2006, Yadav had got a plot of land registered in his name at Daulatpur Pilkicha village of Jaunpur district by allegedly misrepresenting before the registering authority. It was alleged that instead of the real owner, the leader had presented another woman before the authority. 

Geeta, the real owner, later moved the court alleging fraud leading to an order of registration of an FIR against Yadav who was then Member of Parliament from Machlishahr constituency in 2006. Yadav has approached the apex court after the trial court and the Allahabad High Court rejected his plea for suspension of conviction and sentence in the case.

In his plea before the apex court, Yadav said that out of seven years of punishment granted by the trial court, he has already undergone sentence of six years and two months. "Specific consequence that would follow from non suspension of the sentence would be that the petitioner being a political leader, who had been elected thrice as Member of Legislative Assembly and was also Member of Parliament once and the petitioner is prospective nominee for the upcoming election of Legislative Assembly in the state of UP, would not be allowed to contest the upcoming elections", his plea said.

He sought stay of the operation of the judgement of the trial court and suspension of the sentence and conviction in the case.