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Synopsis

A plea has been filed before the Supreme Court by son of Uttar Pradesh's gangster-turned-politician Mukhar Ansari alleging "grave danger and a conspiracy" within the state establishment to eliminate him in Banda jail.

A writ petition filed by Ansari's son Umar claimed the modus operandi of his assassination would be one which is not novel but as has been used to carry out killings in jail in several other cases.

"The petitioner’s father is 60 years old and is suffering from various health ailments including ailments relating to the heart. The constant fear of life and limb in the State of Uttar Pradesh is highly detrimental to his health and therefore, there is a strong case for his transfer to a prison in another State, ruled by any party other than BJP, from where he can attend the trials via video conferencing," the plea said.

The state-backed actions as are being taken against the petitioner’s father are the worst form of the abuse of the process of law, it claimed. 

"This court cannot be a helpless bystander when the rule of law is being challenged with impunity to the prejudice of this petitioner and his father. The petitioner seeks immediate intervention of this Court to protect the ‘Right to Life’ of his father as enshrined and cherished under Article 21 of the Constitution," it stated.

The plea cited disturbing pattern of "extra judicial killings" of several accused persons including former MP and gangster Atiq Ahmad and his brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf. 

It claimed that there is an emerging pattern in these custodial killings where persons belonging to the political opposition are the main targets.

Umar’s plea claimed, "As per the information received by the petitioner’s father and relayed by him, this plan is to be executed prior to the 2024 General Elections for the purposes of drawing political mileage, and most likely in the month of December 2023 itself."

"Further, as per the information received, so-called ‘encounter specialists’ within the STF, who are notorious across the State have been briefed for the purpose of engineering an attack on the petitioner’s father, and are already in the process of making all the necessary arrangements," it alleged. 

The plea sought a direction to the Uttar Pradesh government that trial of all pending cases against the petitioner’s father be conducted through video conferencing; to provide adequate security and protection by the Central Reserve force and direction to the jail authority to preserve and provide all CCTV footages and conduct inquiry regarding the contract given for killing him.

“As per the information received from reliable sources within the police establishment, the persons who have been hired to assassinate the petitioner’s father shall be arrested by the police or summoned on remand in some petty crime, produced before the court and then remanded to judicial custody. Then, they shall be taken to Banda Jail where the Petitioner’s father is currently lodged," the plea claimed.

“This shall give the said persons the desired proximity to the petitioner’s father. Thereafter, these hired killers will be provided access to arms inside jail and an opportunity by way of a lapse in security systems that they can take advantage of through complicit jail officials. The standard mode of operation is to give the attack the color of a fight between the inmates in order to give the entire incident the misleading cover of a ‘gang-war’," the plea added

It also claimed that the petitioner’s father has been a participant in active politics and since the year 1990, several false and frivolous FIRs have been filed against him due to political rivalry and acrimony.

"The petitioner’s father was elected as a Member of Legislative Assembly from Mau Constituency. He has been continuously winning the election of UP Legislative Assembly for five terms (1996-2022)," he said.

Case Title: Umar Ansari Vs State of Uttar Pradesh