Allahabad HC rejects Mukhtar Ansari’s bail plea in criminal case

The bail application was filed by Mukhtar Ansari, a former MLA, seeking bail in a criminal case pending against him under section 3(1) of the UP Gangster and Anti-social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, at Tarwan police station of Azamgarh district

The Allahabad high court has rejected the bail application of Mafioso-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari in a case registered against him under the Gangsters Act in Azamgarh district. In the light of several criminal cases registered against Ansari, the court termed it “rich criminal horoscope of the accused applicant”.

In the case, a man had died while another had suffered injuries in a village in Azamgarh district in 2014. (For Representation)

Rejecting the bail application, Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh observed, “Considering the allegations and the rich criminal horoscope of the accused-applicant and also taking into consideration of the fact that in most of the cases the accused applicant could secure acquittal as the witnesses turned hostile because of fear and terror or the witnesses got eliminated and he is a criminal, gangster and bahubali, the accused-applicant is not entitled to be enlarged on bail.”

The present bail application was filed by Mukhtar Ansari, a former MLA, seeking bail in a criminal case pending against him under section 3(1) of the UP Gangster and Anti-social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, at Tarwan police station of Azamgarh district.

It is alleged that a gang led by the applicant on February 6, 2014, reached Esa Kala Pokhre village where work was being conducted by a contractor through workers and fired from automatic weapons at workers. As a result, one worker Ram Iqbal died on the spot and another got seriously injured. A case was lodged and subsequently a gang chart was approved by the district magistrate in this connection.

“The present offense was committed only with object to strike fear that no one should dare to take contract except for the accused-applicant or his gang members and, therefore, the members of the gang opened indiscriminate fire from illegal automatic weapons on innocent workers, which resulted into death of one person and injury to others in order to strike fear and terror and give a message that one should not dare to take contract work of the government in his area,” the court observed.

“If the present applicant is not a gangster, then in this country no one can be said to be a gangster. He and his gang members accumulated enormous wealth by striking fear and terror in the minds and hearts of the people and his freedom would be peril for the law abiding citizens of this court,” the court further said.

While making these observations, the court in its order dated January 6 took note of the criminal cases registered against the applicant and said the rich criminal horoscope of the applicant made him a popular public figure and he got elected to legislative assembly for six consecutive times.

“It is a most unfortunate and ugly face of our democracy where a person on one hand facing almost two dozen sessions trials, but he gets elected by the public as their representative for six consecutive times,” the court said.