The Allahabad High Court on Thursday approved two days parole to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP from Ghosi constituency in Uttar Pradesh Atul Rai, who has been accused in a rape case by a woman from Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, for taking oath as Member of Parliament in New Delhi.

Justice Ramesh Sinha while granting the parole, ordered that the tainted minister will be taken to Delhi on January 29 in police custody. He, then, will be brought back to the jail after the oath-taking on January 31.

The minister has been in jail after he surrendered in Varanasi on June 22 last year and could not take oath as an MP because his bail plea was, earlier, rejected by the High Court.

Atul Rai’s application contended that he could not take oath after being elected in the Lok Sabha polls as he was serving a term on the charges of rape.

An FIR was registered against Rai on May 1, 2019, at Lanka Police Station, Varanasi.

A girl from Ballia district had filed a case against him for several charges including rape, cheating, and threatening.

According to the FIR, Atul Rai took the woman to an apartment in Lanka, Varanasi and sexually assaulted her. The woman had also alleged that the minister kept pressuring her to keep her mouth shut after the assault.

Even after being accused of rape, Atul Rai, contested from Ghosi parliamentary constituency and defeated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Harinarayan Rajbhar by one lakh 22 thousand 18 thousand votes in the Lok Sabha elections.

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