Ram Kishan Gujjar, a two-time Congress Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Naraingarh, Haryana was pronounced guilty for abetting the suicide of a journalist by an Ambala court on Tuesday. The quantum of sentence in the case will be announced on March 2.

Pankaj Khanna, who worked in Naraingarh as the bureau chief of a magazine called Crime Tehkikat, committed suicide on June 10, 2009, blaming Gujjar for his death. In his suicide note, Khanna had alleged that he was physically and mentally tortured by Gujjar and two of his associates who registered false cases against him.

On the basis of a complaint filed by Khanna’s father, the police had registered a case against Gujjar and two others under Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code. However, Gujjar was reportedly given a clean chit by the police after the initial investigation. Khanna’s father was then forced to move the district court to ensure that Gujjar’s name was included in the First Information Report (FIR).