SC suspends Afzal Ansari’s conviction, paves for restoring his status as Lok Sabha MP

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday suspended the conviction of disqualified BSP MP Afzal Ansari in a 2007 Gangster Act case, paving the way for the restoration of his status as a lawmaker but subject to the conditions that he will not be able to cast his votes or draw perks though he can attend House proceedings.

Ansari, a five-time assembly member and two-time parliamentarian, was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha on May 1 after being convicted and sentenced to four years in prison.

A bench of justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and Ujjal Bhuyan, by a 2:1 majority, partially allowed Ansari’s appeal while setting down a deadline of June 30, 2024, for the Allahabad high court to decide on his plea against the conviction. Justices Kant and Bhuyan ruled in favour of Ansari’s plea. Justice Datta said his appeal should fail.

The majority view held that the constitutional court needed to balance the two chief interests in a democracy—the integrity of the electoral process and the rights of the people of the constituencies.

Ansari can contest the next Lok Sabha election in 2024, said the majority view. It added the outcome of this election will depend on the decision of the high court in his appeal.

A special court in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur on April 29 convicted Ansari and his brother Mukhtar Ansari, an ex-legislator. It awarded a 10-year imprisonment to Mukhtar Ansari.

The brothers were booked under the Gangster Act in connection with the murder of the Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Krishnanad Rai in November 2005 and the kidnapping-murder of Varanasi trader Nand Kishore Rungta in 1997.

On July 24, the Allahabad high court refused to suspend Afzal Ansari’s conviction but granted him bail. He appealed against the judgment of the special court, which also fined him ₹1 lakh.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Afzal Ansari, submitted that the Ghazipur constituency will go unrepresented in the Lok Sabha if his client’s conviction is not stayed.

Singhvi referred to the top court’s decision in a criminal defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. He added Gandhi’s Lok Sabha membership was restored after the court stayed his conviction.

Singhvi said if Afzal Ansari’s conviction is not suspended, a by-election to his constituency will be notified and, resultantly, will cause irreversible prejudice to him in case he is acquitted.

Additional solicitor-general KM Nataraj, representing the Uttar Pradesh government, opposed the plea when the case was argued in October. Nataraj said that suspension of his conviction would defeat the very objective of Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, which deals with the disqualification of a lawmaker upon conviction in certain offences. He added that there are no extraordinary circumstances in this case, warranting an intervention of the Supreme Court.

The verdict in the case was reserved on October 31.