Supreme Court Grants Bail To UP MLA In 2019 Arms Licence Case

The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Uttar Pradesh MLA Abbas Ansari in connection with an arms licence case registered at Lucknow in October 2019.

A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta passed the order while hearing Abbas Ansari's plea challenging the Allahabad High Court order rejecting his bail application in the case.

Abbas Ansari, the son of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, had moved the top court against the November 20 last year order of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court.

An FIR was lodged against the MLA from Mau constituency on October 12, 2019 for alleged irregularities in obtaining arms licence and buying guns.

During the arguments on Monday, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Abbas Ansari, said the petitioner has been falsely implicated in the case. The counsel representing Uttar Pradesh opposed the plea.

The Supreme Court had on January 22 sought a response from the Uttar Pradesh government on the plea.

"Although the applicant's (Abbas Ansari) license issued initially at Lucknow had become invalidated on October 1, 2015, on the strength of the same license he got a license issued at New Delhi on June 1, 2017 and he purchased as many as 7 firearms," the high court had noted in its order.

Abbas Ansari had obtained a gun licence from Lucknow in 2012.

The high court had noted that Abbas Ansari got endorsed a revolver which was not permissible for a shooter and he was having 4,431 cartridges in his possession, many of which were metal jacketed and were not permitted to be used by a shooter.

Abbas Ansari is said to be a competitive shooter and has won medals in shooting championships.

While rejecting his bail application, the high court had said, "Having considered the nature of allegations against the applicant... the status of the applicant as an expert shooter and a Member of Legislative Assembly, the possibility of the applicant being able to influence the witnesses in case of his release on bail, I am of the considered view that the aforesaid facts disentitle the applicant to receive discretion of this court by enlarging him on bail." Abbas Ansari won the 2022 assembly polls on a ticket of the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), which was then in an alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP). 

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