SC closes proceedings after Ansari’s demise

Supreme Court on Tuesday, taking note of Mukhtar Ansari’s demise, closed proceedings on a plea filed by the incarcerated gangster-turned-politician against an order of the Allahabad High Court sentencing him to a five-year jail term in a 24-year-old case.

After taking note of the statement that Ansari passed away, a bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal stated, “The petitioner is no more. The proceedings shall be abated.” On March 28, Ansari passed away due to cardiac arrest at a hospital in Banda, Uttar Pradesh.

On October 13, 2023, the apex court had solicited the response of the Uttar Pradesh government on Ansari’s appeal against the high court order.

Earlier, on September 23, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had overturned Ansari’s acquittal and sentenced him to a five-year jail term in a case related to the Gangster Act. The high court had also levied a fine of Rs 50,000 on Ansari as it reversed the acquittal order by a special MP-MLA court in 2020.

The FIR was registered with Lucknow’s Hazratganj police in 1999 under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act. A special court had acquitted Ansari in 2020. The state filed an appeal against the acquittal in 2021. The special court had acquitted Ansari, a five-time MLA from Mau Sadar constituency, stating that the “prosecution could not prove the offense against him beyond reasonable doubt”.