New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that there are many cases against gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari and he is a “dreaded criminal”, while hearing a plea of Ansari challenging an Allahabad High Court order. The high court had sentenced him to a five-year jail term in a 24-year-old case.
Senior advocate Garima Prasad, representing the Uttar Pradesh government, submitted before a bench comprising justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal that Ansari had spread “a reign of terror” in the state. The bench said that he is behind bars now.
During the hearing, the apex court observed that Ansari has many cases against him and “he is a dreaded criminal”. The bench adjourned the hearing on Ansari’s plea on Tuesday.
The apex court, in October last year, had sought the response from the Uttar Pradesh government on Ansari’s appeal against the high court order. In September last year, 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 imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Ansari as it overturned the acquittal order by a special MP-MLA court in 2020. The FIR was lodged 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 acquittal in 2021.
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