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Scroll.in
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Scroll.in
Mau MLA Abbas Ansari disqualified from UP Assembly after conviction in hate speech case
Abbas Ansari, an MLA from Uttar Pradesh's Mau constituency and son of the gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, has been disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly after a court convicted him in a hate speech case, the Hindustan Times reported on Monday. On Saturday, Chief Judicial Magistrate KP Singh sentenced Abbas Ansari, a member of the Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, to two years in prison. The court held that while the Constitution granted the right to freedom of expression, it was not unrestricted. 'No one can say anything, anywhere, anytime,' Live Law quoted Singh as having said. 'There is no place for hate or provocative speech in the political field, and it becomes serious when the intention is to create disorder on the basis of religion and thus, influencing elections directly or indirectly.' The case pertained to a statement Abbas Ansari made during an election rally in Mau in March 2022, in which he told government officials that he would 'settle scores and teach them a lesson' after the elections, PTI reported. The Election Commission had imposed a 24-hour campaign ban on him after the remark, Maktoob Media reported. A first information report was filed against Abbas Ansari under the Indian Penal Code sections related to punishment for criminal intimidation, punishment for undue influence or personation at an election, obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions, threat of injury to public servant, promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, and punishment of criminal conspiracy. Apart from Abbas Ansari, the FIR also named more than 150 others, including his brother Umar Ansari and his election agent Mansoor Ahmed Ansari, according to Maktoob Media. The court on Saturday stated that Abbas Ansari had been found guilty of delivering a provocative speech, which was a serious offence. 'If senior officials appointed in the district, who are under the direct control of the Election Commission during the Model Code of Conduct period, are threatened with paybacks, then it certainly creates an indirect sense of fear among the voters as well,' Live Law quoted the bench as having said. A day later, the Uttar Pradesh Assembly issued a notification stating that Abbas Ansari had been disqualified, the Hindustan Times reported. Pradeep Dubey, the principal secretary of the Assembly, also said that the Mau seat had been declared vacant. Dubey added that the Election Commission had been informed about the vacancy and that it would issue a notification for holding an election. Abbas Ansari's father, Mukhtar Ansari, had a total of 65 cases against him and had been in jail since 2005 after he surrendered to the police in connection with a communal riot that took place in the town of Mau. On March 14 last year, he was sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court for MPs and MLAs in the 34-year-old Ghazipur fake arms licence case. This was his seventh conviction over 18 months. The gangster-turned-politician died in custody at the Banda Medical College in Uttar Pradesh on March 28, 2024. Hospital authorities said he died of a cardiac arrest. A week before his death, Mukhtar Ansari had told a court in the Barabanki district that his health had deteriorated after he was served food allegedly laced with poison inside the prison, reported PTI. He had alleged that he was poisoned 40 days earlier as well.
Time of India
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
BJP sees opportunity to wrest Mukhtar family's traditional Mau seat in bypoll
Lucknow: The disqualification of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) MLA Abbas Ansari from Mau Sadar assembly seat following his conviction in a hate speech case has necessitated byelection on the seat. All eyes are now on the BJP-led NDA which sees a chance to wrest the constituency which has been a stronghold of late gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari and his family for nearly two decades. Mukhtar's son Abbas Ansari won the seat in 2022 on SBSP ticket, which was then an ally of the Samajwadi Party. Now, SBSP is BJP's ally. Abbas had defeated BJP's Ashok Singh by 48,000 votes. The Mau Sadar seat was represented by Mukhtar since 1996 – twice on a BSP ticket (1996 and 2017), twice as an independent (2002 and 2007), and once as a Quami Ekta Dal candidate in 2012. Mukhtar died following a cardiac arrest while being lodged in Banda jail in Mar 2024. Party sources said BJP's organisational machinery has hit the ground running in the Muslim-dominated constituency. Sources said the party plans to build a groundswell on the lines of Muslim-dominated Rampur and Kundarki assembly seats, which the BJP won in byelections in 2022 and 2024, respectively. UP BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary said the party is working among the people in the district. "We will intensify the groundwork in the coming days," he said, adding that the party's central leadership would decide the candidate after due consultation. "The byelection on Mau would be contested by the NDA. Whether it would be BJP or SBSP will be decided in due course," he said. SBSP, too, has staked its claim to contest from the seat. SBSP president and UP minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said his party, which has been a strong contender in Mau Sadar, would seek to contest the byelection with BJP's support. Rajbhar emphasised that the SBSP was the runner-up in 2017 and won the seat in 2022, highlighting the party's growing influence in the region. A senior BJP functionary, however, said the party gave a fair chance to the SBSP by allowing it to contest the Ghosi Lok Sabha seat in 2024 which includes the Mau Sadar segment. The move, however, did not yield the desired results as Congress-backed SP candidate Rajeev Rai defeated Rajbhar's son Arvind by a significant margin of over 1.6 lakh votes. Experts said the BJP wants to capitalise on Mukhtar Ansari family's legal troubles besides highlighting the clean governance of the Yogi govt. Analysts say the disqualification of Abbas Ansari and Mukhtar's absence have significantly weakened the family's political influence in the seat. At present, Mukhtar's brother, Afzal Ansari, is Ghazipur MP on an SP ticket while his elder brother Sibghatullah's son Suhaib Ansari is MLA from Mohamadabad. However, Afzal Ansari too faces multiple criminal cases, further jeopardising the family's political future.
Time of India
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Abbas Ansari to move sessions court
Varanasi: Following the order of CJM (MP-MLA) court of Mau on Saturday against Abbas Ansari, sentencing him to two years' imprisonment which also resulted in his disqualification from the UP Assembly, his team of lawyers will move an appeal before the sessions court on Tuesday or Wednesday. His lawyer Daroga Singh said on Monday that all necessary documents, including a copy of the order from the CJM (MP-MLA) court, were being collected. "After compiling the documents and details, the application will be moved before the session court in a day or two," he added. Abbas was sentenced in a case of hate speech registered against him on March 4, 2022, after his speech delivered at a meeting in the Paharpur area on March 3, 2022, went viral on social media. While contesting the 2022 Assembly polls from the Mau Sadar seat as a Samajwadi Party-Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party alliance candidate, Abbas, in his Paharpur speech on March 3, 2022, stated, "After the formation of the SP-led govt, officials would have to give 'hisab-kitab' (account) of their work of the past regime before getting transferred. " Abbas won the election, but he went to jail following his arrest by the Prayagraj unit of the ED in a money laundering case in Feb 2023. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Óculos militar: a nova tendência entre os homens no Brasil Óculos Max Saiba Mais Undo He came out of jail in March. The lawyers of Abbas are preparing to challenge the CJM (MP-MLA) court's order against the quantum of punishment. The court, in its 48-page judgement, commented, "The accused has a criminal history and several serious criminal records are also associated with his family members. The family of the accused Abbas Ansari has held the Legislative Assembly seat of Mau Sadar for nearly 20 years. During his election campaign, Abbas Ansari gave a speech from the stage threatening to settle scores with state govt officials after the elections, which could have disrupted communal harmony. Therefore, it does not seem appropriate to give a lesser punishment to the accused."
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Abbas Ansari disqualified from UP Assembly
Abbas Ansari, the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) MLA from Uttar Pradesh's Mau Sadar assembly constituency who was sentenced to two years' imprisonment in a 2022 hate speech case by a special court on Saturday, has been disqualified from Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly. Abbas is the son of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari who died last year. According to a notification issued by the UP legislative assembly on Sunday, Mau Sadar MLA Abbas Ansari is disqualified from May 31, 2025 as per Election Commission of India letter no. 509/Gen/2015/RCC, dated 13.10.2015 and order dated July 10, 2013 passed by the Supreme Court. Principal secretary, Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly, Pradeep Dubey said with the disqualification of Abbas Ansari, the Mau Sadar seat has been declared vacant. The Election Commission of India has been informed about the vacancy and the poll panel will issue a notification for holding the election, he said. The court of chief judicial magistrate (MP-MLA), Mau, Dr KP Singh, on Saturday sentenced Abbas Ansari to two years' imprisonment in a case of violation of election code of conduct and hate speech during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls in 2022. The Special MP/MLA court had convicted and sentenced Ansari to imprisonment of two years each under IPC sections 189 and 153-A, one year under section 506 and six months imprisonment under section 171-F. The court ordered that all the sentences will run simultaneously. Abbas's accomplice Mansoor Ansari was sentenced to six months' simple imprisonment under IPC section 120-B in the case and a fine of ₹1000 was imposed on him. Abbas Ansari, who was contesting 2022 assembly election as an SBSP candidate from Mau Sadar seat, had threatened officials of Mau administration during a public meeting at Paharpur ground of the city, saying he will 'settle scores and teach them a lesson' after the elections.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
‘No place for hate speech in public service'
Varanasi: While pronouncing sentence for Abbas Ansari, SBSP MLA from Mau Sadar who was disqualified from assembly membership on Sunday, chief judicial magistrate (MP-MLA) court of Mau on Saturday had commented there was no place for hate or provocative speech in public service rendered by politicians and that it became more serious when such speech was aimed at influencing election process and officials conducting it. On Saturday, Abbas was sentenced under five sections of IPC with a maximum imprisonment of two years in the 2022 case of the 'Hisab-Kitab' hate speech incident. CJM (MP-MLA) K P Singh, in his 48-page judgment, commented, "There is no place for hate or inflammatory speech in public service, such as politics. This becomes even more serious when the intention is to directly or indirectly influence elections by causing disorder based on religion. " The judgment added, "Officials appointed in the district are under direct control of the Election Commission during the model code of conduct. Threatening them with post-election retribution certainly instils fear among voters as well." It further stated, "In a diverse country like India, inflammatory speech harms both, nation and society. Such public representatives, after winning elections, would waste their time teaching lessons to opponents, which has no place in democracy or society and is unacceptable." CJM further said, "Before determining punishment in a criminal case, it is necessary to consider nature and circumstances of the crime and involvement of the accused. Punishment in criminal cases serves a social purpose. Not only should the convicted realise that they had committed a crime, the victim should also feel justice had been served. Purpose of punishment should be to send a message to society that committing a crime can result in severe penalties. " The judgment stated, "The accused has a criminal history and several serious criminal records are also associated with his family members. The family of the accused, Abbas Ansari, has held legislative assembly seat of Mau Sadar for nearly 20 years. During his election campaign, Abbas Ansari made a speech from the stage threatening to settle scores with state govt officials after elections, which could have disrupted communal harmony. Therefore, it does not seem appropriate to give a lesser punishment to the accused." While contesting 2022 assembly polls from Mau Sadar seat as an SP-SBSP alliance candidate, Abbas had threatened officials from a public meeting dais in Paharpur area on Mar 3, 2022, saying, "After formation of SP-led govt in state, officials will have to give 'hisab-kitab' (account) of their work during the past regime before they are transferred." Mau police lodged a case in this connection on Mar 4, 2022. Abbas won the election, but landed in jail following his arrest by the Prayagraj unit of ED in a money laundering case. After staying behind bars since Feb 15, 2023, Abbas was released from Kasganj jail on Mar 21, 2025 after the Supreme Court on Mar 7 granted him conditional bail in a case under the Gangster Act. But, almost two months after coming out of jail, Abbas was sentenced in the hate speech case and also lost his membership from state assembly. In jail since 2005, his father, late mafia don Mukhtar, a five-time MLA from Mau Sadar, died after being rushed to a hospital from Banda jail, in 2024. While Abbas was being sentenced by CJM court in May, his uncle and SP MP from Ghazipur, Afzal Ansari, was holding a meeting with officials in Ghazipur. He declined any comment on the sentencing of Abbas in the hate speech case on Saturday. Despite repeated efforts, Afzal could not be contacted on Sunday.
