Rajesh Kumar Pandey | TNNPrayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has suspended the 10 years’ sentence awarded to Manish Kumar Upadhyay, former national general secretary of Indian Youth Congress, by the trial court of Varanasi in 2010. The court has also stayed the operation and effect of the order of conviction recorded against him by the trial court of Varanasi.The stay on conviction carries significant legal importance because it removes the statutory disqualification under the prevention of corruption Act, 1951, thereby enabling Manish Kumar Upadhyay to contest elections while his criminal appeal remains pending in the high court.Hearing an application filed by Manish Kumar Upadhyay seeking suspension of sentence and conviction, Justice Vani Ranjan Agrawal in the order dated Jun 11, said, “The sentence awarded to the appellant-applicant Manish Kumar Upadyyay shall remain suspended and the operation and effect of the order of conviction recorded against him shall also remain stayed during the pendency of the present appeal”.Earlier, the additional sessions judge, Varanasi in judgment dated Jul 16, 2010 had convicted him under section 307 (attempt to murder) and section 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code and had awarded a sentence of 10 years imprisonment and fine Rs 25,000.Manish Kumar Upadhyay is already out on bail in this case and his appeal is pending here. His counsel had moved an application requesting the court to suspend his sentence so that he is able to contest any public election in future. As per law, if a court awards two or more years’ of sentence to an accused, he will not be able to contest any election.During the course of hearing, the counsel for Manish Kumar Upadhyay submitted that he was released on bail by the order dated Jan 9, 2020 passed by a co-ordinate bench of this court. He further submitted that he was innocent and had been implicated falsely in the present case. It is further submitted that he is a highly qualified individual, who has been actively and continuously engaged in social work and public service. He has also built a prominent political career while working with the CongressParty. He has a bona fide desire to actively participate as a candidate in the forthcoming democratic elections. However, owing to the pendency of the application for suspension of sentence, he is unable to contest the upcoming elections.The counsel for the Upadhyay further submitted that during the period he remained on bail, he never misused the liberty granted to him and complied with all the conditions imposed by this court. It was lastly submitted that the he has no criminal antecedents and no criminal history except for the present case.The state counsel opposed the suspension of conviction and sentence application.