The case concerns a plot of land that was bequeathed to Abbas Ansari and his brother Umar Ansari. In 2023, they were removed from the property after it was declared as government-owned evacuee property. The Ansari brothers initially approached the Allahabad High Court but failed to get an interim stay on the eviction. Subsequently, they moved to the Supreme Court, seeking immediate relief.
![[BREAKING] MLA Abbas Ansari Bail Plea: "Some High Courts Are Unpredictable, & Allahabad HC is One To Worry About": Supreme Court Justice Surya Kant](https://i0.wp.com/lawchakra.in/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Abbas-ansari.webp?resize=820%2C461&ssl=1)
NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh MLA Abbas Ansari, the Supreme Court today (9th Jan) has passed a status quo order regarding a property that he claims ownership of but was dispossessed from in 2023. The property was declared “evacuee property” by the authorities.
“Some High Courts are unpredictable, and the Allahabad High Court is one should be worried,” orally remarked Justice Surya Kant of the Supreme Court while hearing UP MLA Abbas Ansari’s plea regarding a property, citing delays in addressing his case.
The case concerns a plot of land that was bequeathed to Abbas Ansari and his brother Umar Ansari. In 2023, they were removed from the property after it was declared as government-owned evacuee property. The Ansari brothers initially approached the Allahabad High Court but failed to get an interim stay on the eviction. Subsequently, they moved to the Supreme Court, seeking immediate relief.
A bench consisting of Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh heard the matter today and issued an order stating:
“The instant application has been moved inter-alia alleging that after the order passed by this court, the writ petition has been listed on several occasions, but no effective hearing has taken place. Consequently, no interim protection has been granted to the petitioner though all other similarly situated writ petitioners have been protected against dispossession/demolition/fresh construction at the disputed site. The matter shall be listed before the appropriate bench of High Court at the earliest. The Registry is directed to send a copy of this order to the Registrar General/Registrar (Judicial) of the High Court, who in turn are directed to bring the order to the notice of the bench where the matter is listed. The Division Bench may be apprised of the request made by us in para 6 of our order dt. October 21, 2024.”
This ruling came after the Ansari brothers’ repeated requests for an urgent hearing before the Allahabad High Court, which had not taken up their case despite multiple listings. The Supreme Court noted that other similar petitioners had been granted stay orders, but Abbas Ansari’s case had not received the same attention.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Abbas Ansari, argued that despite the Supreme Court’s earlier order for the High Court to hear the case promptly, six hearings had passed without any effective action. He further claimed that construction had continued at the disputed site despite the lack of relief for Ansari. Sibal also expressed concerns that Ansari was being deprived of justice due to his background, stating:
“If the High Courts do this, where does a citizen go?”
Justice Surya Kant responded to these concerns by addressing the unpredictability of some High Courts, particularly the Allahabad High Court, saying:
“Some of the High Courts, we don’t know what will happen…this is one of the High Courts which one should be worrisome about. Unfortunately, filing has collapsed, listing has collapsed…nobody knows which matter will be listed. I was there on last Saturday, I had long interaction with some of the concerned judges and Registrar…it is the largest High Court.”
Background of the Dispute
The dispute centers around a plot of land, Plot No. 93, located in Jiamau, Lucknow, which Abbas Ansari’s grandfather purchased in 2004. In 2017, the property was bequeathed to Abbas and his brother Umar through a registered will. However, in 2020, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) in Dalibagh, Lucknow, passed an ex-parte order declaring the plot as evacuee property, which is government-owned.
In August 2023, the Ansari brothers were dispossessed from the property after the SDM’s decision. Initially, they filed a writ petition before the Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench). At the same time, other co-owners of the property, also affected by the SDM’s order, approached the High Court through separate writ petitions. The High Court eventually decided to hear the Ansari brothers’ case along with that of the co-owners to avoid conflicting orders.
Despite repeated listings, the High Court did not grant an interim stay to the Ansaris, while other affected petitioners did receive such protection. As per Abbas Ansari’s claims, after their eviction, the authorities began constructing on the disputed land. In response, the Ansaris filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court disposed of the SLP in October 2024, directing the Allahabad High Court to take up the Ansaris’ application for interim stay on an urgent basis, with a request for a hearing by November 4, 2024. The Court stated:
“We request the High Court to take up the application out of turn, if so required, so that the prayer of the petitioner for interim protection can be appropriately adjudicated.”
Despite this direction, the High Court failed to take up the case, leading to the filing of the current plea in the Supreme Court.
Earlier, Supreme Court granted bail to Uttar Pradesh legislator Abbas Ansari in two separate cases investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Uttar Pradesh police. However, Ansari, the Mau MLA, must secure bail in a third case under the Gangster Act from the Allahabad High Court before his release.
Ansari, the son of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, was arrested by the ED in November 2022 on charges of money laundering, accused of using two companies for laundering funds.
Ansari had appealed a May 9 order by the Allahabad High Court, which had denied him bail.
In another case, where Ansari is accused, along with his wife, of holding illegal meetings in jail, a separate bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan ordered his release after considering his prolonged detention of nearly 20 months and the completion of the investigation.
The UP government claims that while Ansari was in Chitrakoot jail, his wife, who is out on bail, smuggled a phone to him, which he used to threaten witnesses and extort money.
Ansari was arrested in this case in February while serving his sentence in the ED case.
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