PRAYAGRAJ: The Allahabad high court on Monday stayed the arrest of MLA from Mau Sadar, Abbas Ansari, the son of mafia don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, for his alleged statement threatening government officials with payback at a public rally in Mau earlier during the 2022 state assembly elections.
The court directed Ansari to co-operate in the investigation and added that in case of any act of the petitioner’s of non-cooperation in the ongoing investigation, it would be open for the respondents to approach this court for vacation of this interim order.
Hearing a writ petition filed by Abbas and his brother, a division bench comprising Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Vikas Kunvar Srivastav further directed the state government and the Election Commission of India to file a counter-affidavit (reply) within a period of three weeks.
Abbas, who contested and won the UP Assembly polls as a candidate of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP)-Samajwadi Party alliance, had claimed that after forming the government in the state, no government official would be transferred for first six months as he had a score to settle with them (hisab-kitab remark).
In connection with his alleged remark on March 3, 2022 against government officials, a FIR had been lodged on March 4 against him under Sections 171F (punishment for undue influence or personation at an election) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
It was argued by the counsel for the petitioner that at no point in time, the Election Commission of India had issued any direction or recommendation for lodging of the criminal case against the petitioner for the statement made by him at a public platform. It was also argued that Abbas is an elected MLA of Mau constituency and ,therefore, he was being targeted so that he was not able to take the oath of office.
