In a significant legal proceeding, the Allahabad High Court on Thursday reserved its decision on the criminal appeal by Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari. The appeal challenges the four-year sentence imposed by a trial court under the Gangsters Act, stemming from allegations related to the 2005 murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai.
The court session, presided over by Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh, also considered petitions from the Uttar Pradesh government and Rai’s son, Piyush Kumar Rai, which sought an enhanced sentence for Ansari. The verdict, awaited with bated breath, holds considerable political consequences. If the high court upholds the sentence, Ansari, elected on a Samajwadi Party ticket in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, stands to lose his Parliamentary seat.
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The case against Ansari originated from an MP-MLA court ruling in Ghazipur on April 29, 2023, where he was convicted and sentenced to four years in jail, coupled with a fine of Rs 1 lakh. Following his conviction, Ansari was initially disqualified as an MP, prompting him to file the current appeal in the high court.
