An MP-MLA court in Lucknow has issued summons to Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya and his MP-daughter Sanghmitra Maurya on a complaint filed by one Deepak Kumar Swarnakar who alleged that the lawmaker had lied in her election affidavit claiming that she was unmarried.
According Deepak, he and Sanghmitra had got married in 2019 after a long period of being in a live-in relationship which the Maurya family knew about.
He said Sanghmitra, without divorcing him, later remarried one Naval Kishore Shakya whom she divorced in 2021.
The youth first made the allegation in November last year. The court had issued summons to the father-daughter duo and Swarnakar, asking them to appear before it on January 6, but no one turned up before the court.
Swarnakar also alleged that Swami Prasad Maurya had him thrashed and threatened to kill him once he leaked the news of the wedding. Two other people had also been mentioned in the initial complaint—Ritika Singh and Surya Prakash Shukla.
The court has also summoned one Neeraj Tiwari for intimidation, physical violence and forgery.
In his complaint, Swarnakar had appended photos of the wedding between him and Sanghmitra, which took place at Maurya’s official residence. He alleged that Swami Prasad Maurya himself had given his blessings to the couple.
However, when his daughter won the election from Badaun, he started avoiding his son-in-law. Subsequently, Deepak said, he was also threatened and also subjected to physical assault.
An individual committing bigamy, that is a second marriage, without divorce, is held accountable under sections 494 and 485 of the Indian Penal Code. The first imposes a fine and an imprisonment of upto seven years for marrying during the lifetime of one’s spouse without divorce. The second deals with counterfeit. Section 17 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 makes it a criminal offence to enter into a prohibited relationship while being in a marriage.
The court has summoned the parties on January 23.
