Supreme Court confirms interim bail granted to UP MLA Abbas Ansari in Gangsters Act case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday confirmed its earlier order granting interim bail to Uttar Pradesh MLA Abbas Ansari, son of late gangster Mukhtar Ansari, in a case under the state's Gangsters Act.

On August 31, 2024, an FIR was lodged at Kotwali Karvi police station in Chitrakoot district under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, against Ansari and others on charges of extortion and assault.

On March 7 last year, the top court granted six-week interim bail to Ansari in the case.

On Tuesday, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Nizam Pasha, appearing for Ansari, and regularised the interim bail granted earlier in the case.

The relief from the top court in March 2025 had paved the way for Ansari's release from Kasganj jail. He had been granted bail in all other criminal cases against him.

The bench had imposed certain conditions and later relaxed a few of them, including that he could not leave Lucknow without the investigating officer's nod.

Ansari was taken into custody in other criminal cases on November 4, 2022, and arrested under the Gangsters Act on September 6, 2024.

Granting him relief in March last year, the bench noted that he was granted bail in all other criminal cases except the Gangsters Act case.

On December 18, 2024, the Allahabad High Court rejected Ansari's bail plea in the case.

Navneet Sachan, Niyaz Ansari, Faraz Khan and Shahbaz Alam Khan are the other accused in the case.