The Allahabad High Court will continue to hear on Thursday a criminal appeal filed by Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari challenging his conviction and four years’ sentence in a Gangsters Act case by a trial court of Ghazipur.
This case was imposed on Afzal following the killing of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai in 2005.
Along with this present criminal appeal, this court is also hearing connected UP govt’s appeal seeking enhancement of sentence of Afzal in the same case and criminal revision filed by Piyush Kumar Rai, son of Krishnanand Rai, also seeking enhancement of sentence.
This appeal assumes significance because if the conviction of Afzal is confirmed, he will lose his membership of parliament, as the sentence is of more than two years. Afzal won the Ghazipur seat on a Samajwadi Party ticket in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh adjourned the hearing on Wednesday after hearing both sides.
An MP-MLA court of Ghazipur had on April 29, 2023, convicted Afzal and sentenced him to four years jail and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh in the Gangsters’ Act case. His younger brother Mukhtar Ansari too was sentenced to 10 years in jail in the case.
Following this, Afzal was disqualified as an MP. Thereafter, he filed the present criminal appeal before the high court.
On July 24, 2023, the high court had granted bail to the five-time MLA and two-time MP but declined to stay his conviction in the case. As a result, though Afzalwas released from jail, his membership of Parliament was not restored. Further, he also became disqualified to contest future polls as the sentence awarded was more than two years.
However, later the Supreme Court stayed his conviction, as a result, his membership of Parliament was restored, and he also became eligible to contest the Lok Sabha election. However, the apex court directed the HC to expedite the hearing and decide the case by June 30.
