Raj Babbar sentenced to two-year jail by Mumbai court for assaulting polling officer in 1996 case

Actor turned politician Raj Babbar has been sentenced to two years in prison. A Mumbai court passed the verdict on Thursday, in a case involving the assault of a polling officer. Raj was last seen in the 2021 Hotstar web series Dil Bekaraar. Also Read: When Raj Babbar recalled being replaced in films by Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor

Raj was convicted for voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from performing his duty and three other offences. The court also imposed a fine of ₹8,500 on him. The polling officer had lodged an FIR against Raj during an election in May 1996. The complaint was lodged at the Wazirganj police station here. At that time, Raj was contesting from the Samajwadi Party. Raj was present in the courtroom when the verdict was announced.

Born to Kaushal Kumar and Shobha Rani on 23 June 1952 in UP’s Agra district, Raj Babbar graduated in theatre. He also studied at Delhi reputed National School of Drama. He made his film debut in 1980 with Insaaf Ka Tarazu. Some of his notable films are Saazish, Aankhen, Dalaal, The Gambler, Andaz, Yaarana , Barsaat, and Ziddi.

After working in more than 150 movies and 30 plays, the actor decided to foray into the active politics. Raj joined Samajwadi Party in early 90s and was nominated to Rajya Sabha in 1994. There he worked in various committees including Home Affairs; Consultative Committee, Ministry of Civil Aviation. In 1999, he contested the Agra constituency and defeated his nearest rival BS Rawat of BJP by a margin of more than 1,10,000 votes.

In 2008, he joined the Indian National Congress. The following year, he won his fourth term as an MP. However, he lost the Lok Sabha elections in both 2014 and 2019. He was appointed a

(With inputs from PTI)