The Supreme Court declined to stay the Allahabad high court's decision to sentence gangster Mukhtar Ansari to five years in prison under the Gangsters Act, while also serving notice on his petition challenging the high court's ruling that overturned his acquittal in a 23-year-old case from September last year. Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi, presiding over the case, have requested a response from the Uttar Pradesh government regarding Ansari's petition and scheduled a follow-up in four weeks, as reported by Hindustan Times.
During the hearing, Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Ansari, urged the court to stay the high court's order from September 23, 2022. Sibal pointed out that out of the 25 individuals involved in the case, only the petitioner (Ansari) received a sentence, while the rest were acquitted. "I was also acquitted by a special court (dealing with MP/MLA cases) in 2020. Nobody is convicted, and I am now declared a gangster on zero evidence," Sibal argued.
The state, represented by additional advocate general Garima Prasad, argued that Ansari, a former member of the UP legislative assembly, had more than 50 criminal cases, including serious offenses, registered against him. The case against Ansari, dating back to 1999 in Lucknow, accused him of heinous crimes such as murder, extortion, kidnapping, and abduction. The initial report alleged that Ansari and gang member Abhay Singh were responsible for the murder of a jail superintendent in Lucknow's Hazratganj area and engaged in organized criminal activities, including extortion and kidnapping to amass wealth.
The high court's decision observed that the special court had made an error in acquitting Ansari, emphasizing that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against him beyond a reasonable doubt. In its ruling, the high court imposed a five-year prison sentence and a fine of Rs.50,000 on Ansari, stating that the invocation of the Gangsters Act against an individual is independent of acquittal or conviction, as long as they are a member of a gang and commit offenses defined under Section 2(b) of the Gangsters Act.
