Next BJP Ticket to Convict Daler Mehndi as he Joins Party?

In March 2018, Daler Mehndi was convicted in a 2003 human trafficking case by a court in Patiala.

(Photo: Twitter/@BJPDelhi)

Popular Punjabi singer Daler Mehndi became the latest celebrity to join the BJP, during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Mehndi joined the party in the presence of Delhi unit president Manoj Tiwari, on Friday, 26 April.

West Delhi candidate Hans Raj Hans was also present when Mehndi joined the party.

Mehndi was convicted by a Patiala court on 16 March 2018 in a trafficking case, which had been brought against him after one of the people he’d taken money from to take abroad, filed a case for fraud since he had not actually followed through. Several other complaints were received for such fraud, while Mehndi was alleged to have dropped off some men and women in the US and Canada after taking them as part of his dance troupe on tour back in 2003.

The trial court sentenced him to two years’ imprisonment, but he was granted bail immediately as he was filing an appeal against the conviction. On 30 March 2018, the additional district and sessions judge in Patiala later suspended his sentence pending his appeal. As a result, Mehndi would not have to go to jail until his appeal in the sessions court was decided. However, his conviction for fraud and conspiracy was not suspended, which means he is still a convict as things stand.

(This copy will be updated.)