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Belong to the family of leaders like ex-VP: Mukhtar Ansari to SC
“There is a grave threat and impending danger to the life of the respondent in the state of UP under the present political regime. The present petition is merely to seek a death warrant on the life of the respondent (Ansari),” Ansari’s affidavit read.
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Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari has, in the Supreme Court, accused the Uttar Pradesh government of conspiring to kill him in a “state-sponsored encounter”, while emphasising that he was part of a family that contributed immensely to India’s freedom struggle and gave leaders such as former vice-president Hamid Ansari. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA from Mau in the UP assembly also opposed the Yogi Adityanath government’s plea in the top court to shift him back to the state for trial in 14 criminal cases from a jail in Punjab, where he is presently lodged in connection with an extortion case.
“There is a grave threat and impending danger to the life of the respondent in the state of UP under the present political regime. The present petition is merely to seek a death warrant on the life of the respondent (Ansari),” Ansari’s affidavit read.
Invoking his pedigree, Ansari said that he was a “part of a family that has made immense contribution to the Indian freedom movement and has given India many leaders in the form of Shri Muhammad Hamid Ansari who was the vice president of India, Shri Shaukatullah Ansari who served as the governor of Odisha, Justice Asif Ansari who was the judge of the Allahabad high court, and his own father Subhanullah Ansari who was a freedom fighter and social worker.”
Contending that a free and fair trial was not possible in UP where various BJP leaders have issued open threats to his life in complicity with the state government, Ansari said that his “personal custody is being sought only with the intent of killing him” since trials could go on through video-conferencing as well.
“The respondent ought not be brought physically to the state of UP as it will amount to being a death warrant for him,” the affidavit read. “The petitioner’s (UP’s) insistence on personal appearance of the respondent in the state of UP itself gives credence to the fact that his life is in grave danger and he will be killed if he is physically produced there,” he said, naming BJP MLAs Brijesh Singh and his nephew Sushil Singh from UP as the ones who had been reportedly trying to eliminate him. The court fixed the matter for a detailed hearing on February 24 and asked the UP government to submit its replies to the affidavit.
