The Supreme Court today granted interim bail to Uttar Pradesh Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Abbas Ansari, son of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari, in a case filed against him under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters Act for extortion and assault..The bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh highlighted that the bail was only interim in nature and that the police would have to file a status report with respect to conduct of Ansari during this time."....apprehension of the prosecution is that petitioner will misuse the bail and threat witnesses who are yet to be examined. Co-accused have also absconded. Taking into consideration submissions of both sides, and in order to evaluate conduct of petitioner while on bail, we release him on interim bail," reads the Supreme Court order. .The Court has granted interim bail on several conditions:While on interim bail he is directed to stay at the official accomodation provided to him in Lucknow.As and when requested to visit his constituency he may do so with prior permission of the agency.Petitioner shall not leave the State of UP without permission of the trial court.Petitioner shall not make any public statement in relation to the cases sub judice before the court.However his right to defend himself in all these cases shall remain unaffected.Petitioner shall also appear before trial court whenever required..Appearing for Ansari, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal along with Advocates Nizamuddin Pasha and Aparajita Jamwal submitted that an earlier FIR also had same charges against Ansari. .Opposing the grant of bail, Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj submitted that Ansari had questionable conduct."...please see his conduct...he can influence and threaten witnesses. Some key witnesses are to be still examined. Bails have been granted on procedural grounds," the ASG contended.However, Justice Kant while granting interim bail, observed,"How long will he be in jail? Our criminal jurisprudence is relief-oriented.".The case against Ansari and four others was filed in August 2024. On December 18 last year, the Allahabad High Court rejected Ansari's bail plea in the case. Ansari has been in custody since September 2024..In October last year, the Court had granted him bail in a money laundering case. A Bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Pankaj Mithal had granted him bail in a case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).Meanwhile, another Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan had granted Ansari bail in a case involving allegations that his wife had been visiting him in jail without complying with the necessary formalities. The same Bench, however, refused to grant him anticipatory bail in the UP Gangsters Act case, which Ansari claimed was registered to frustrate his bail in other cases..Supreme Court grants bail to MLA Abbas Ansari in two cases but refuses relief in Gangster Act case.In March 2024, he was granted bail in an arms license case..[Read Live Thread]
