LUCKNOW: Giving a reprieve to gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, the Allahabad High Court, on Monday, granted him bail in a 2007 Gangsters’ Act case but refused to stay his conviction in the matter. The bench comprising Justice Raj Beer Singh also stayed the fine of Rs 5 lakh imposed on Mukhtar by an MP-MLA court of Ghazipur which had convicted and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment on April 29, 2023. Justice Singh said the matter related to his conviction would be heard at a later stage.
Though Mukhtar has been granted bail in the Gangsters’ Act case, he will remain in jail in connection with other criminal cases, including the Awadhesh Rai murder case of Varanasi, where he had been awarded a life sentence by the sessions court of Varanasi.
A history sheeter of Mohammadabad police station in Ghazipur with 61 cases against him, Ansari has been languishing in jail since 2005 after he surrendered in a communal riot case in Mau in which seven people had died. Mukhtar had represented the Mau Sadar seat five times – twice as a BSP candidate and thrice as an Independent.
Mukhtar’s lawyer Upendra Upadhyay had moved an application stating that the Gangsters’ Act was imposed on the appellant (Mukhtar) on the basis of his alleged involvement in the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai in 2005. “He has already been acquitted in that case, therefore, there remains nothing in the present case filed under Gangsters’ Act,” he said. He argued that Mukhtar had served more than 10 10-year sentences during the trial itself, so there was no justification in keeping him in jail after conviction.
Opposing the submissions of the defence lawyer, the government counsel said that there were sufficient grounds to keep the gangster in jail. After hearing the parties, the court had reserved its order on September 20. The special MP/MLA court in Ghazipur had on April 29, 2023, convicted Mukhtar and his brother Afzal Ansari in the 2007 Gangsters’ Act case. While Mukhtar was handed 10 years imprisonment, Afzal was sentenced to four years.
