Supreme Court Seeks Response on Abbas Ansari's Bail Plea

The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Uttar Pradesh government on MLA Abbas Ansari's bail plea. Ansari is accused of extorting money using his wife's mobile phone while in jail. He seeks to challenge a High Court order that denied him bail.

The Supreme Court on Thursday requested a response from the Uttar Pradesh government regarding MLA Abbas Ansari's bail plea. Ansari has been accused of using his wife's mobile phone to threaten people and extort money while incarcerated at Chitrakoot district jail.

Ansari, representing Mau constituency, appealed after the Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench rejected his bail on May 1. An FIR filed in February 2023 alleged that Ansari's wife frequently visited him without following proper protocols, and that Ansari used her phone for illegal activities. The high court also noted accusations that Ansari's wife's driver plotted his escape with jail officials.

The case was heard by a bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and Ujjal Bhuyan, who set the next hearing for two weeks later. Abbas Ansari is the son of Mukhtar Ansari, a former MLA and gangster-politician who died in jail recently. The high court emphasized that as an MLA, Ansari should uphold higher standards of conduct.

(With inputs from agencies.)