UP arms licence case: HC rejects anticipatory bail plea of Mukhtar Ansari’s MLA son Abbas Ansari

LUCKNOW: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s MLA son Abbas Ansari in connection with an arms licence case. The bench had earlier reserved its order on August 26.
The bench of Justice D K Singh passed the order on the plea moved on behalf of Ansari. Passing the order, the bench said that the arms recovered from him were of prohibited category in shooting sports, and as such, the offences were of very serious nature. The bench also took notice of the fact that Abbas was already declared an absconder from a lower court.
In its order, the bench also asked Abbas to surrender before the court. In case it is done so, the court will decide the bail plea expeditiously, added the bench.
The special MP-MLA court in Lucknow last week had declared Abbas Ansari an absconder and fixed September 26 as the next hearing in the case.
Earlier, moving the plea, Abbas had claimed that he was innocent and being victimized in the case due to political vendetta. Opposing the plea, state counsel had argued that the arms and cartridges that were recovered from him were made of metal while metal items are not used in shooting sports.
The then Mahanagar police station in-charge, Ashok Singh, had on October 12, 2019 lodged an FIR against Abbas.
It was alleged in the FIR that Abbas obtained a gun licence from Lucknow and later he got it transferred to Delhi where he purchased many arms at the changed address. The police had filed a chargesheet against him on December 24, 2020.
Abbas Ansari won the 2022 UP assembly election from Mau representing Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party.