Allahabad High Court Adjourns Hearing of Afzal Ansari's Criminal Appeal

The Allahabad High Court has postponed the hearing of a criminal appeal by Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari, challenging a four-year jail term. The case, linked to BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai's 2005 killing, includes appeals by the state and Rai's son. The next hearing is set for July 2.

The Allahabad High Court on Monday adjourned the hearing of a criminal appeal filed by Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari until July 2. Ansari is challenging a four-year jail term in a Gangsters Act case handed down by a trial court.

The charges against Ansari stem from the 2005 murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Krishnanand Rai. Besides Ansari's appeal, the court is also reviewing an appeal from the Uttar Pradesh government and a criminal revision filed by Rai's son, Piyush Kumar Rai, who seeks a harsher sentence for Ansari.

During Monday's hearing, Ansari's counsel, Upendra Upadhyay, informed the court of objections filed against the criminal revision and government appeal.

Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh deferred the appeal hearing to July 2. Last April, an MP-MLA court in Ghazipur sentenced Afzal Ansari to four years in jail and imposed a Rs 1 lakh fine under the Gangsters Act. Ansari’s younger brother, Mukhtar Ansari, received a 10-year sentence in the same case.

Afzal Ansari was consequently disqualified as a member of Parliament and filed the criminal appeal challenging the verdict. On July 24, 2023, Ansari obtained bail from the high court but his conviction was not stayed, leaving his parliamentary membership unresolved and disqualifying him from future elections due to the over-two-year sentence.

The Supreme Court later stayed his conviction, thereby restoring his parliamentary membership and making him eligible to contest the Lok Sabha elections.