The Supreme Court concluded its proceedings on Tuesday regarding Mukhtar Ansari’s passing, closing the case on his plea. Ansari, a gangster-turned-politician, had filed an appeal against the Allahabad High Court’s ruling, which sentenced him to a five-year jail term in a case dating back 24 years.
“The petitioner is no more. The proceedings shall be abated,” stated the bench comprising justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal after acknowledging Ansari’s demise.
Ansari passed away on March 28 due to cardiac arrest at a hospital in Banda, Uttar Pradesh. Last year, on October 13, the Supreme Court requested the response of the Uttar Pradesh government regarding Ansari’s appeal against the high court order.
Previous High Court proceedings
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 under the Gangster Act. Additionally, the high court imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Ansari while overturning the acquittal order issued by a special MP-MLA court in 2020.
The FIR against Ansari was lodged with Lucknow’s Hazratganj police in 1999 under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act. Although a special court 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, citing that the “prosecution could not prove the offence against him beyond reasonable doubt”.
(With PTI inputs)