With the apex court declining to stay the conviction at this stage, Bharti's disqualification as a member of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly will continue. Bharti has challenged the July 10 judgment of the Delhi High Court, which had refused to suspend his conviction awarded by a Special MP/MLA court in New Delhi. In its judgment, the Delhi High Court held that suspension of conviction is an extraordinary power that should be exercised only in "exceptional circumstances" and found no apparent infirmity in the trial court's findings. The Delhi High Court held that such hardship was not unique to Bharti but flowed from the statutory scheme governing disqualification of elected representatives. On a prima facie assessment of the record, the Delhi High Court had found no "palpable or manifest error" in the trial court's judgment.