Punjab, UP lock horns over Mukhtar Ansari’s custody
The Uttar Pradesh and Punjab governments have locked horns in the Supreme Court over custody of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari.
The Uttar Pradesh and Punjab governments have locked horns in the Supreme Court over custody of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari.
A Bahujan Samaj Party MLA from Mau in the UP assembly, Ansari is wanted in the state for trial in 14 criminal cases, but he continues to be lodged since January 2019 in a jail in Punjab where he was named in an extortion case.
While the Yogi Adityanath government has complained about the trial not proceeding in UP because of Ansari’s absence, the Punjab government has now filed an affidavit in the top court, refusing to hand over his custody.
The Punjab government has cited Ansari’s health -- he is reportedly suffering from hypertension, diabetes, back pain, skin allergy and depression,-- to shoot down the UP government’s plea.
Demanding dismissal of the UP government’s writ petition in the SC, the Amarinder Singh government has maintained that it was acting as per medical opinion and that there was no “pre-conceived conspiracy” to keep Ansari away from UP.
Filed through the jail superintendent of the Rupnagar prison where Ansari is currently lodged, the affidavit stated that the writ petition by UP was not even maintainable in law since the state could not claim infringement of its fundamental rights on account of Ansari’s detention in Punjab.
The Punjab government acknowledged that Ansari was required in UP for trial in 14 criminal cases on charges of murder, extortion and under the Gangster Act, but remained firm that the law empowered the jail superintendent to abstain from complying with a judge’s order to hand over custody of a prisoner on account of sickness.
“The responsibility of ensuring safe custody, wellness and good health of respondent no.3 (Ansari) while in custody is solely of the answering respondent (jail superintendent) and that all decisions taken were as per the mandate of the law, tempered with the express medical advice regarding the condition of the health of Ansari,” read the affidavit, filed last week before a bench headed by justice Ashok Bhushan.
Out of 26 production warrants issued by UP courts for Ansari’s appearance, the Punjab government has claimed that 10 were not received by the jail authorities. On many other dates of trial proceedings before the UP courts, Ansari had been advised “bed rest” by government doctors and medical boards in Punjab due to his health, as per the affidavit.
The Punjab government has also admitted that Ansari has not even applied for bail in the extortion case registered nor have the police been able to file a charge sheet since registration of the FIR in January 2019. Notably, under the law, Ansari is entitled to come out on bail only on the ground that there has been no charge sheet filed in the case so far. But he has chosen not to apply for bail.
The Supreme Court, which had in December issued notices to the Punjab government,and Ansari, will take up the matter next on February 8.
Ansari, in an application to a trial judge in Agra in October 2019, stated that he apprehended he could be killed on the way if he was taken to a jail in UP from Punjab. He requested that he be allowed to appear through video-conferencing. In the cases where the trial courts have allowed his plea, Ansari was being produced through video-conferencing.
Bharatiya Janata Party’s Mohammadabad (UP) MLA Alka Rai told HT: “This is unfortunate that a state government is impeding the course of justice and refusing to send Ansari to face trials in UP by citing diseases such as sugar and hypertension. Can these ever be ailments of the kind that can stop someone from travelling? The big question is why Ansari and his relatives are being shielded by Congress governments in Punjab and Rajasthan? Is it fair on a state to protect someone facing over a dozen criminal cases and deny victims of crime their right?”
Alka Rai is the wife of the slain MLA Krishnanand Rai, who was shot dead in 2005. Ansari was accused of killing her husband but later acquitted in the case.
“Medical advice should be respected, unless proven otherwise. But since the matter is subjudice, we will abide by the court’s order,” Punjab advocate general Atul Nanda said.
