Mukhtar Ansari Death | 'His Food Was Poisoned And Medical Treatment Withheld': Son Tells Supreme Court, Seeks Enquiry

Late gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari's son Umar Ansari alleged before the Supreme Court today that his father was poisoned in jail and died due to withholding of requisite medical treatment.

The matter was before a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti which, on hearing Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal (for Umar Ansari), issued notice on an application seeking modification of the prayer made in the main writ petition. The main writ petition was filed in 2023 seeking Mukhtar Ansari's transfer out of the Uttar Pradesh jail where he was lodged on apprehension that he would be killed.

At the outset of the hearing, Sibal submitted, "All we can say is...what we feared, happened...the man was sent back to the jail...this is very very shocking". Hearing him, Justice Roy said, "We can't bring him back, Mr Sibal...you know that very well...you were apprehending an encounter sort of a situation...".

Subsequently, Sibal pled that some enquiry should be conducted as Mukhtar Ansari was sent back to jail and he died in ICU. "Human beings in the country can't be treated like this...", he remarked, drawing attention of the court to the last conversation had by Umar Ansari with his father. The senior counsel also alleged that the food given to Mukhtar Ansari in jail was poisoned and that was the cause of his death.

Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, on the other hand, argued that the petition was initially filed for a limited purpose (seeking transfer and protection of Mukhtar Ansari). Be that as it may, he requested and was granted 4 weeks' time to file a response to the application seeking modification.

After hearing the counsels, the bench issued notice on Umar Ansari's application. It recorded Sibal's submission that Mukhtar Ansari was "denied requisite medical treatment in the jail" and according to his son, "it had led to death in custody".

On Sibal's request, the bench also recorded in the order: "according to the senior counsel, it was not a death simpliciter, but was result of specific action taken by the jail authorities".

Background

Mukhtar Ansari was an accused in the case involving the murder of BJP leader Krishnanand Rai and various other cases. In 2021, the Supreme Court allowed a petition filed by the State of UP to transfer him to a jail in UP from a jail in Punjab.

In 2023, the present writ petition came to be filed by Umar Ansari under Article 32 of the Constitution seeking Mukhtar Ansari's transfer to any jail outside UP. It was alleged that his family members had been targets of persecution by the State and that he received reliable information that his father's life was in grave danger as there was a conspiracy afoot involving people within the state establishment to assassinate him in Banda jail.

The plea stated that out of all persons accused in the murder, 4 had already been murdered. It pointed out the cases of 1) Shahnawaz, an undertrial who was killed in December 2019, in the course of being produced before court; 2) Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azim, who were shot dead in April 2023 while being escorted by police officers for a routine medical check-up; (3) Meraj Ahmad, one of the co-accused with Ansari in a case under MCOCA, who was shot dead inside a high-security barrack of Chitrakoot District Jail, UP in May, 2021.

Per contra, state of UP maintained that no harm will be caused to Mukhtar Ansari in jail.

On March 28, 2024, Mukhtar Ansari reportedly died on account of a cardiac arrest, while undergoing a sentence of life imprisonment.

Case Title: UMAR ANSARI Versus THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH AND ORS., W.P.(Crl.) No. 629/2023

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