A magisterial court in Morbi city on Tuesday convicted Gujarat Assembly Pro tem Speaker Nima Acharya, former Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Kantilal Amrutiya and Patidar quota agitation leader Manoj Panara for trying to bribe voters in the run-up to the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, The Indian Express reported.

The court sentenced the three to one year in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on each of them. However, it stayed their sentences for a month to allow them to appeal against the verdict in a higher court.

The Election Commission had filed a case against the three politicians after Amrutiya and Acharya, who were sitting BJP legislators in 2009, promised at a meeting in Morbi to provide gifts to party workers if they succeeded in securing a certain number of votes for the municipality wards in Morbi and Assembly seats in Kutch.

“No evidence of our involvement has been put before the court,” Acharya told reporters after the verdict, according to IANS. “We are not happy with the judgment. We will approach a higher court against the ruling.”

Nima Acharya claimed that the three had obtained “all the requisite permissions” during the campaign and called the case “politically motivated”.

A pro tem speaker is one who temporarily acts as the speaker of a House or Assembly until one is elected.