The Supreme Court on Monday was told that gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari was poisoned in jail and Umar Ansari, his son, wants to seek an inquiry into his father's death.


In 2023, Umar Ansari had filed a petition seeking his father's transfer from Uttar Pradesh Jail on account of anticipated threat to his life.


Supreme Court on Monday issued notice after Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal informed the court that Umar Ansari will be filing an application to amend the earlier writ plea seeking transfer and changing the relief in plea to an inquiry into his death.


Sibal told the court that the allegation is that food Mukhtar Ansari was given was poisoned. He said what Umar Ansari feared had happened.


Sibal submitted that "it was not death simpliciter, but rather the result of specific action taken by jail authority."


He further told the court that Mukhtar Ansari was denied requisite medical treatment in jail and it has led to death in custody.


"Human beings in this country can't be treated like this...Your Lordships had protected us...the man was taken back to jail and he died...some enquiry should be conducted!" Sibal said.


Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari was taken to Banda Medical College hospital after his health deteriorated before he passed away.


"I received information that he has been brought here, so I have come here..." Naseem Haider, lawyer for Mukhtar Ansari, told ANI.


Earlier, Mukhtar Ansari was shifted from Uttar Pradesh's Rani Durgawati Medical College to jail after his discharge on Tuesday. Mukhtar Ansari was admitted to a hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Banda on Tuesday after he complained of abdominal pain in jail.


Ansari's lawyer, Naseem Haider, claimed that the former MLA in the Uttar Pradesh assembly is experiencing difficulty speaking. "Some reports are pending. He is stable, but he is having difficulty speaking," Naseem Haider said.


Ansari, 63, was a five-time MLA from Mau Sadar seat and was behind bars in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab since 2005. He had over 60 criminal cases pending against him.


He was sentenced in eight cases since September 2022 by different courts in Uttar Pradesh and was lodged in the Banda jail. His name was on the list of 66 gangsters issued by Uttar Pradesh Police last year.


Ansari, who hailed from Mau, was believed to have a strong influence in the adjoining Ghazipur and Varanasi districts as well.