The Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court on Wednesday sentenced gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari to seven years in prison for pointing a pistol at a jailer and threatening him. The Bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh found Mr. Ansari, 59, guilty of offences under Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
As per the complainant, S.K. Awasthi, who was serving as a jailer in the Lucknow district jail on April 23, 2003, Mr. Ansari had threatened to kill and abused him when the jailer ordered frisking of some persons who had come to meet Mr. Ansari in the prison.
The five-term former Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) was sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment and was fined ₹10,000 for offences under Section 353, and two years and a fine of ₹2,000 for offences under Section 504 of IPC. The High Court also sentenced Mr. Ansari to seven years in prison and imposed a fine of ₹25,000 for offences under Section 506 of the IPC.
The court order accessed by The Hindu reads, “The accused-respondent is convicted for offences under Sections 353, 504, 506 IPC. He is sentenced for an offence under Section 353 IPC to undergo imprisonment for 2 years with a fine of ₹10,000. For the offence under Section 504 IPC, he is sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 2 years with a fine of ₹2,000. For the offence under Section 506 IPC, the accused is sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 7 years with fine of ₹25,000. All the sentences would run concurrently.”
A trial court had acquitted Mr. Ansari in the case but the government filed an appeal in the High Court. Mr. Ansari, a notorious name in eastern U.P., faces more than three dozen cases of heinous crimes in the State.
