The Allahabad High Court on Monday refused to stay the imprisonment sentence of former MP Afzal Ansari passed by a Ghazipur court in a 2007 Gangsters Act case.
The court of Justice Raj Beer Singh, however, granted him bail on the appeal filed by him against the judgement.
Ansari had appealed against the judgement of the special MP/MLA court in which he was sentenced to four years of imprisonment and fined Rs 1 lakh.
It was argued on behalf of Ansari that the Gangsters Act was invoked against the former MP over his alleged involvement in the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai and in that case, he has been acquitted.
However, the application was opposed on behalf of the Uttar Pradesh government.
The special MP/MLA court in Ghazipur had on April 29 convicted Afzal Ansari and his brother Mukhtar Ansari in the 2007 Gangsters Act case. It had sentenced Afzal Ansari to 4 years in jail and Mukhtar to 10 years of imprisonment.
Following the judgement of the Ghazipur court, Afzal Ansari was disqualified as an MP.
