The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Uttar Pradesh government on an appeal filed by gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari challenging an order of Allahabad High Court sentencing him to 5-years of imprisonment in a 23-year-old case related to the Gangster Act. A bench comprising of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi issued notice to the state government on the plea filed by Ansari. The high court reversed Ansari’s acquittal in the case by a special Lucknow MP-MLA court in December 2020 on an appeal filed by the state government. The special court acquitted Ansari, a 5-time MLA from Mau Sadar constituency, stating that the “prosecution couldn’t prove the offence against him beyond reasonable doubt”.