Read Time: 05 minutes

Synopsis

The Allahabad high court on Monday set aside the Ghazipur court's decision that sentenced Samajwadi Party MP Afzal Ansari to four years in prison under the Gangsters Act in connection with the 2005 murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai.

As a result of the high court's ruling in favor of Ansari's appeal against his conviction, he can continue serving as a Member of Parliament.

The bench of Justice S K Singh also rejected appeals filed by the Uttar Pradesh government and Piyush Kumar Rai, son of the late Krishnanand Rai, seeking an increase in Ansari's sentence.

Afzal Ansari, the brother of the late gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, won the Ghazipur seat on a Samajwadi Party ticket in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

In April 2023, the MP MLA court in Ghazipur had convicted Afzal Ansari, who was then a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP, in a kidnapping and murder case related to Krishnanand Rai's killing. The court sentenced him to four years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh. The same court had also convicted Mukhtar Ansari in the case, sentencing him to 10 years imprisonment and imposing a fine of Rs 5 lakh.

After the conviction, Afzal Ansari moved the high court which on July 24, 2023, though suspended his sentence and released him on bail, his prayer to stay the conviction was rejected.

The high court has on Monday held that the trial court while convicting Ansari had not considered the fact in proper prospective that he had already been acquitted in base case crime, in which allegation of hatching conspiracy was leveled against him.

"This Court is of the view that the prosecution could not prove its case and charges under Section 3(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, against the appellant beyond reasonable doubt. Since appellant Afjal Ansari has been acquitted in base Case Crime No. 589 of 2005 by the trial Court at Delhi vide judgment and order dated 03.07.2019, therefore on this ground also he is liable to be acquitted in the light of judgment dated 19.02.2024 of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Farhana (supra), which has retrospective effect ," the high court held.

If the Allahabad high court had upheld the lower court's decision, Ansari would have been required to vacate his seat in Parliament, as per the provisions of the Representation of the People Act.