Today, On 29th July, The Allahabad High Court set aside the Ghazipur MP-MLA court’s decision that sentenced Samajwadi Party MP Afzal Ansari to four years in prison. This ruling was in connection to the Krishnanand Rai murder case.
Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court, On Monday, set aside the Ghazipur MP-MLA court‘s ruling that sentenced Samajwadi Party MP Afzal Ansari to four years in prison for the murder of former Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Krishnanand Rai. This decision allows Ansari to retain his position as the Lok Sabha MP from Ghazipur.
Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh of the high court reserved judgment on Ansari’s appeal on July 4.
Afzal Ansari, the brother of the late gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari, found guilty last year by an MP-MLA court in Ghazipur in relation to the abduction and murder of former MLA Krishnanand Rai. He received a four-year prison sentence and fined Rs.1 lakh.
Had the high court upheld the lower court’s verdict, Ansari would have been required to vacate his Lok Sabha seat. According to the Representation of the People Act, any MP or state legislator sentenced to two years or more of imprisonment is disqualified “from the date of such conviction” and remains disqualified for an additional six years after completing their sentence.
Afzal Ansari submitted an appeal for the cancellation of his sentence, while the state government and Piyush Kumar Rai, the son of the deceased MLA Krishnanand Rai, filed appeals requesting a harsher sentence for Ansari.
Afzal Ansari is the brother of Mukhtar Ansari, who recently passed away in a UP jail. During the recent Lok Sabha elections, Afzal Ansari faced off against BJP candidate Paras Nath Rai and BSP candidate Umesh Kumar Singh. Ansari emerged victorious, defeating Paras Nath Rai by a margin of 1,24,861 votes.
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Krishnanand Rai, who served as an MLA from the Mohammadabad assembly seat in Ghazipur, brutally murdered on November 29, 2005. Rai’s convoy ambushed at a narrow bridge in the Ussarchati locality of Ghazipur as he was returning home after inaugurating a cricket tournament in the Siyadi area. A group of assailants, armed with AK-47 rifles, attacked the convoy, fatally shooting Rai along with six others.
The high court‘s decision to acquit Ansari not only allows him to retain his parliamentary seat but also significantly impacts the political landscape in the region. The judgment, delivered by Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh, had been reserved since July 4, reflecting the complexity and sensitivity surrounding the case.
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