Irfan Solanki
Thursday was a day of happiness and sadness for Irfan Solanki, a former member of Parliament from Kanpur West Samau. The Allahabad High Court granted bail to Irrfan Solanki but refused to suspend his sentence. Under such circumstances, there is no problem in holding elections in Sisa-Mao now.
Irfan Solanki was accused of arson and later the AP-MLA court in Kanpur sentenced Irfan Solanki to 7 years in prison. Under the rules, Irfan Solanki lost jurisdiction after being jailed for more than two years. After this, along with other seats, the West Samau seat in Kanpur will also go for by-election. Irrfan’s wife Naseem Solanki is a candidate from SP.
Irrfan has reached the Supreme Court
Irrfan appealed to the High Court against his seven-year sentence. Among them, a petition was filed for suspension of sentence and grant of bail. The High Court hearing in the case has been repeatedly delayed and Irrfan has moved the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has ordered the High Court to complete the hearing within 10 days. Since then, the High Court has been hearing consecutive cases every day.
On the one hand, Irrfan called for a suspended sentence, while on the other hand, the government demanded that the sentence be commuted to life imprisonment. The High Court, in its order on Thursday, ordered Irrfan Solanki to be granted bail. Irrfan was granted bail, but the High Court has now refused to stay the sentence.
There is no crisis in the by-election
Despite being granted bail, Irrfan Solanki is not yet likely to be released from jail. Apart from the arson charges, Irrfan is yet to get bail in the gangster and Adhakar cases. After this decision, at least it has been confirmed that there will no longer be any crisis in the West Samau by-election.
(Reporting: Anurag Agarwal)
