Uttar Pradesh: BSP MP Afzal Ansari sentenced to four years in jail in 2007 Gangsters Act case
The verdict could lead to him being disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP.
An Uttar Pradesh court on Saturday convicted Bahujan Samaj Party MP Afzal Ansari and his brother Mukhtar Ansari in a case filed in 2007, PTI reported.
The case was filed under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act at the Muhammadabad Kotwali police station in the Ghazipur district.
An additional sessions judge sentenced Mukhtar Ansari, a gangster-turned-politician, to ten years’ imprisonment, and sentenced Afzal Ansari to four years’ imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on Mukhtar Ansari and Rs 1 lakh on Afzal Ansari.
The verdict could lead to Afzal Ansari being disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP. According to Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, a legislator sentenced to jail for two years or more stands to be disqualified from the date of conviction till six years after serving time.
This is the first case in which the Bahujan Samaj Party leader has been convicted.
Mukhtar Ansari has 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. In September, he was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for threatening to kill a jailor and pointing a gun at him.
On Saturday, the counsel for the brothers, Liakat Ali, said that they will file an appeal against the conviction, The Indian Express.
Mukhtar Ansari is currently lodged at the Banda district jail. Afzal Ansari was also taken into custody by the police on Saturday after the court pronounced the order.