Rajesh Pandey
The Allahabad High Court on Monday set aside the conviction and four years’ sentence awarded to Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari under the Gangsters Act by a trial court of Ghazipur.
This case was imposed on Afzal following the killing of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai in 2005.
Since the conviction has been set aside, Afzal Ansari will continue as member of parliament. As per a decision of the apex court, if the conviction is more than two years, the MP-MLA concerned will lose his membership of the house.
In addition to it, the court also dismissed Uttar Pradesh government’s appeal seeking enhancement of sentence of Afzal in the same case. Besides, the court also dismissed the criminal revision filed by Piyush Kumar Rai, son of Krishnanand Rai seeking enhancement of sentence.
Allowing a criminal appeal filed by Afzal Ansari, Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh set aside the aside judgement of Ghazipur court dated April 29, 2023.
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 one 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.