PRAYAGRAJ, Aug. 30 -- The Allahabad high court has stayed the conviction and the sentence awarded to former MP Umakant Yadav by the trial court of Jaunpur district in a 1995 case of murder during the pendency of the criminal appeal. By filing the present criminal appeal, the former MP had challenged the conviction and sentence awarded to him. The bench comprising Justice Siddharth and Justice Santosh Rai passed the order on August 27. During the hearing, the counsel for the appellant submitted that the appellant is a political person and intends to contest the upcoming elections. He also relied upon the judgments of apex court in the cases of Navjot Singh Siddhu vs state of Punjab and another of 2007 and Lok Prahari vs Election Commission of India and submitted that the appellant was also entitled to get benefit of aforesaid judgments passed in the cases of politicians whose conviction were stayed by the apex court since they wanted to contest elections. The appellant has been an MP from 2004 to 2009 and an MLA of the state from the year 1991 to 1993, 1993 to 1996 and 1996 to 2002. The state counsel opposed the submissions made by the counsel for the appellant and submitted that keeping the gravity of offence committed by the appellant, he is not entitled to any further relief other than the grant of bail by this court on August 13, 2025. In 2022, a sessions court of Jaunpur had awarded life imprisonment to seven people, including former MP Umakant Yadav, in a 27-year-old case related to a GRP constable's murder and an attempt to kill three others. In February 1995, Yadav along with his supporters was accused of opening fire indiscriminately at the Shahganj Government Railway Police (GRP) lockup of Jaunpur to free his driver Rajkumar Yadav. GRP constable Ajay Singh was killed while his colleague Lallan Singh, railway employee Nirmal and a passenger Bharat Lal were seriously injured in the firing. A criminal case was registered against the former MP at Shahganj police station of Jaunpur. The court granted him bail in August this year. Thereafter, he filed the present modification application requesting the court to stay the conviction and sentence awarded to him during the pendency of this appeal....