The Supreme Court on Thursday put a stay on arrest of Umar Ansari, son of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, in a criminal case against him for violating the model code of conduct of the Election Commission during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2022.
Ansari was booked for delivering provocative speech against the Mau district administration while the model code of conduct was in place. Earlier the Allahabad High Court had refused anticipatory bail to him in the same case.
The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is a set of guidelines issued by the ECI to regulate political parties and candidates prior to elections. It becomes operational from the date on which the election schedule is announced until the date of the result announcement.
The code helps the Election Commission in keeping with the mandate it has been given under Article 324 of the Constitution. EC is empowered by the constitution to supervise and conduct free and fair elections to the Parliament and State Legislative Assembly.
A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and P K Mishra heard the case today and issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on his special leave petition against the high court order.
Abbas Ansari, Umar Ansari, Mansoor Ahmad Ansari were accused of violating the model code of conduct for a statement that callled for settling score with the UP government.
The Mau district administration had demolished the house belonging to Ansari as it was found that the map of the building was not approved by the authorities.
Mukhtar Ansari, a ganster-tuned-politician from BSP, was sentenced to five and a half years of rigorous imprisonment in a 26-year-old case in December 2023.
Mukhtar Ansari, a politician from BSP, was sentenced to five and a half years rigorous imprisonment in a 26-year-old case in December 2023.
Uttar Pradesh government has seized alleged illegal occupation of property worth more than Rs 586 crore belonging to the Ansari family. Ansari allegedly built his muscle power through his control over the government contracts in Eastern Uttar Pradesh districts of Mau, Ghazipur, Varanasi, and Chandauli for decades, controlling government contracts.