Actor and former MP Jaya Prada was labeled a “absconder” by a Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, court on Tuesday in relation to two cases of election code violations. The police were instructed to apprehend Prada and bring her before the court on March 6.
Two cases were filed against the former Rampur MP at the Kemari and Swar police stations for allegedly breaking the Model Code of Conduct during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, according to senior prosecution officer Amarnath Tiwari.
In the 2019 elections, the actor ran as the BJP’s candidate from Rampur, but Azam Khan of the Samajwadi Party won. On a Samajwadi Party ticket, she was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rampur in 2004 and 2009. She had been expelled by the Samajwadi Party.
The former MP was summoned by the special MP-MLA court multiple times in these cases, but she never showed up.
She was served seven subsequent non-bailable warrants, but the police were unable to trace her and produce her before the judge.
The police had claimed in their court-filed reply that Jaya Prada was trying to avoid being arrested and that all of her known cell phone numbers were off. This time around, Judge Shobhit Bansal took a firm stand on this and declared Jaya Prada to be an absconder.
On March 6, the next hearing date, the Rampur Superintendent of Police was directed to assemble a team led by a circle officer, arrest Jaya Prada, and bring her before the court.
