Arrest 'absconding' Ex MP Jaya Prada: UP court asks police to produce her before it on March 6

Former Bhartiya Janta Party MP and actor Jaya Prada has been declared as an "absconder" on Tuesday by a court in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur. Prada has been on a run in connection with two cases of election code violations. The court has also directed the police to arrest her and produce her before it on March 6.

Such a legal provision is invoked when the accused fails to appear in court despite non-bailable warrants, thereby, leading to a proclamation procedure to ensure their attendance.

Two cases were registered against the former MP from Rampur at Kemari and Swar police stations for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, according to senior prosecution officer Amarnath Tiwari.

The special MP-MLA court, in these cases, has issued several summons but the former MP did not appear before it. 

Subsequently, non-bailable warrants were issued against her seven times, but the police could not produce her before the court.

Jaya Prada was the candidate from Rampur in the 2019 polls and was defeated by Azam Khan of the . The actor was elected to the from Rampur in 2004 and 2009 on a ticket. The SP expelled her subsequently.

The police, in its reply filed in the court, said that Jaya Prada was evading arrest, and all her known mobile numbers were switched off, the prosecution officer said.

On this, Tiwari said, judge Shobhit Bansal took a tough stance and declared Jaya Prada as an absconder under Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)

The Superintendent of Police of Rampur has been ordered to form a team under the leadership of a circle officer and arrest the actor-MP and produce her in the court on the next date of hearing on March 6.

(With agency inputs)