SC Stays Criminal Case Against Swami Prasad Maurya Over Daughter’s Marital Dispute

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a stay on the criminal proceedings against former Uttar Pradesh minister Swami Prasad Maurya, related to a marital dispute involving his daughter, former MP Sanghmitra Maurya.

A bench consisting of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice Aravind Kumar issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government regarding an appeal against a decision by the Allahabad High Court. Maurya challenged the Lucknow bench’s refusal to dismiss the criminal case filed by Deepak Kumar Swarnkar, who claims to be Sanghmitra’s husband.

Previously, a special MP-MLA court had declared Swami Prasad Maurya and Sanghmitra Maurya as absconding in a case involving allegations of harassment and threats.

According to Swarnkar’s complaint, he was allegedly married to Sanghmitra in Buddhist rituals before the 2019 parliamentary elections, with a promise that their marriage would be publicly acknowledged afterward. Swarnkar alleges that following the elections, during which Sanghmitra became an MP, both she and her father began harassing him with police and private goons.

Swami Prasad and Sanghmitra had sought to have these proceedings quashed in the high court, but their petitions were denied.

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