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Ansari?s bail plea maintainable:HC
THE ALLAHABAD High Court on Thursday rejected the preliminary objection of CBI counsel and held that the bail application of SP MP Afzal Ansari, an accused in BJP MLA Krishna Nand Rai murder case, is maintainable before the High Court. Delivering the verdict, Justice Poonam Srivastava fixed November 17 for the next date of hearing of the bail application of Afzal Ansari.
THE ALLAHABAD High Court on Thursday rejected the preliminary objection of CBI counsel and held that the bail application of SP MP Afzal Ansari, an accused in BJP MLA Krishna Nand Rai murder case, is maintainable before the High Court.
Delivering the verdict, Justice Poonam Srivastava fixed November 17 for the next date of hearing of the bail application of Afzal Ansari.
Raising the preliminary objection to Afzal’s bail plea, the CBI counsel stated that since the investigation was transferred from civil police to the CBI, the applicant should first put up the bail application before the CBI Court.
Only after the rejection of the bail application by the CBI court, he would move the High Court.
During the hearing, the CBI counsel said in the present bail application, the order of Ghazipur sessions judge was challenged.
The sessions judge had rejected Afzal’s bail application considering the evidence and chargesheet submitted by the civil police. Later, under the HC directive, the investigation was transferred from civil police to the CBI. Now, the CBI is investigating the matter and new evidence had been collected.
Therefore, the applicant should first move the bail plea before the CBI court in Lucknow. In case the CBI court rejected the bail application, he might move the HC. However, the court rejected the CBI plea. BJP MLA from Muhammadabad assembly constituency of Ghazipur Krishna Nand Rai and his seven aides were shot dead on November 29, 2005. An FIR, naming Mau MLA Mukhtar Ansari, his brother Afzal Ansari and others, was filed.
Election rivalry was stated to be the reason for the murder as Rai had defeated Afzal in the assembly election. Later, civil police investigated the matter and submitted a chargesheet.
Rai’s wife Alka Rai filed a writ petition seeking investigation by the CBI. Acting on this writ petition, a Division Bench of the High Court directed the CBI to investigate the case.
