The Allahabad High Court has granted additional time to the legal team of Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari to file objections regarding a plea seeking a harsher sentence for him under the Gangsters Act. This decision came during a hearing on Tuesday.
Afzal Ansari has appealed his conviction and the four-year prison sentence handed down by a Ghazipur trial court. This case is related to the 2005 killing of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai.
Alongside Ansari's appeal, the court is also considering appeals from the Uttar Pradesh government and a criminal revision filed by Piyush Kumar Rai, the son of Krishnanand Rai, who is pushing for a longer sentence for Ansari.
During the hearing, Ansari's counsel requested more time to prepare and file objections to the plea for enhancing his sentence. Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh accepted this request, granting a week for the submission of the objection or counter affidavit. Consequently, the court has scheduled the next hearing for June 3, 2024, to consider all related cases.
On April 29, 2023, an MP-MLA court in Ghazipur convicted Afzal Ansari, sentencing him to four years in prison and imposing a fine of Rs 1 lakh under the Gangsters Act.
His younger brother, Mukhtar Ansari, was also convicted in the same case and sentenced to ten years in prison. Mukhtar Ansari, a notorious gangster-turned-politician, passed away from a heart attack in March.
Following his conviction, Afzal Ansari was disqualified as an MP. He subsequently filed an appeal with the high court, which granted him bail on July 24, 2023.
Despite this, the court did not stay his conviction, meaning he was released from jail but remained disqualified from Parliament and barred from contesting future elections, as his sentence exceeded two years.
The Supreme Court later intervened, staying his conviction, which reinstated his parliamentary membership and eligibility to contest in the Lok Sabha elections. Additionally, the Supreme Court directed the Allahabad High Court to expedite the case.
Afzal Ansari, a five-time MLA and two-time MP, is currently running for the parliamentary seat from Ghazipur on a Samajwadi Party ticket. His legal battles and the political implications of his case continue to draw significant attention.
The ongoing legal proceedings and appeals are critical not only for Ansari's political future but also for the broader implications regarding the legal standards applied to politicians with criminal convictions.
The forthcoming hearing on June 3 will be closely watched as it could determine the final outcome of Ansari's appeal and his standing in the political arena.
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