Supreme Court Allows Abbas Ansari To Attend Private Memorial Service For His Late Father Mukhtar Ansari From June 10-12

The Supreme Court today (May 15) allowed jailed MLA Abbas Ansari to attend the private prayers kept in memory of his late father Mukhtar Ansari on June 10, 2024. Mukhtar Ansari died on March 28 following a cardiac arrest while undergoing a sentence of life imprisonment.

The bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan acceded to Ansari's prayer to also spend time with his family members and close relatives on June 11 and June 12, 2024, since the family has not had a chance to be together since the loss of his father.

Also, the court accepted the demand of Ansari to attend the following rituals on the date of the private prayer service i.e.,

a. Quran-Khwani (Recitation of the complete Qur'an by those present followed by a prayer for the deceased) and

b. to visit the grave of the deceased followed by a Fatiha at the site.

The Court directed the State Police to take back Ansari to Kasganj Jail on June 13 and also asked Ansari to not address any print or electronic media during the period he will be out.

On the previous hearing, Ansari's counsel conveyed to the bench his wish to attend a private memorial service since he could not attend the funeral of his father.  

Today, Adv. Nizam Pasha who appeared on behalf of Ansari informed the Court that the private prayer service is to be organized on Monday, June 10, 2024, in remembrance of his father at the house of the Petitioner in Mohammadabad, Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, involving only the family members of the Petitioner, his relatives, household staff, neighbors and close friends.

It may be recalled that Abbas Ansari is currently in jail over an arms license case. In November last year, he was denied bail by the Allahabad High Court, noting that huge quantities of arms and ammunition were recovered from his premises in New Delhi. The High Court further cited the risk of Ansari influencing witnesses and tampering with evidence.

Though the present petition was initially filed for Ansari to be able to attend his father's funeral rites, it could not be listed in time and became infructuous since the funeral ceremony had already taken place when the petition came to be listed before the Court.

Last month, Ansari was granted permission to attend the 'Fatiha Ceremony' of his late father.

Also, the Court permitted him to virtually attend the religious ceremony to mark the 40th day of the death of his late father.

Advocate Nizam Pasha, assisted by Advocates Sidharth Kaushik, Awstika Das, and Sachin Dubey appeared for the Petitioner Abbas Ansari. The petition was filed by Advocate-on-Record Lzafeer Ahmad BF.

Senior Advocate and UP AAG Ms. Garima Parshad appeared for the Respondent-State of Uttar Pradesh.

Case Title: Abbas Ansari v. The State of Uttar Pradesh, W.P.(Crl.) No. 208/2024

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