There was tension at the Magistrate Court Complex in Mulbagal town on Thursday as the court pronounced a two-year jail term for Mulbagal MLA Amaresh and three others in a land document forgery case.
However, Amaresh and the others were later granted bail by the court.
Principal Judicial Magistrate First Class Omkarmurthy announced the judgment handing down two years imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 10,000 each for all the convicts in the case.
The original suit was against five persons, including Amaresh. Subsequently, two of them died.
While Amaresh and Muniyamma were convicted, another accused, Venkataramanappa, was acquitted. Ranga Reddy and Krishnaiah died during the pendency of the case.
The case pertained to forging a land document and selling the land to others.
M.B. Lingaradhya, a resident of Bevahalli in Mulbagal taluk, filed the case against Amaresh and the others on June 3, 2002 alleging that he (Amaresh) had forged the documents of his land in connivance with Chengalarayappa and others while Amaresh was a member of the Sonnavadi Gram Panchayat.
The land was sold to Siddanahalli Muniyamma. After the death of Lingaradhya, his son, Dinesh Babu, continued the case.
The court detained Amaresh in its custody from noon to 4 p.m. after pronouncing the jail term.
This led to tension as a large number of supporters of the MLA gathered outside the court forcing the police to summon additional forces.
The supporters of Amaresh tried to cause damage to TV channel cameras.
