SC directs Punjab govt to hand over Mukhtar to UP
NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Punjab government to hand over custody of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who is lodged in Ropar jail there, to Uttar Pradesh police.
The apex court used its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution while passing the directive.
An SC bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and R S Reddy said that the custody of Ansari, an MLA from Mau constituency, be handed over to Uttar Pradesh within two weeks.
Ansari will be lodged in Banda jail in UP from where the Punjab police had taken him into custody in January 2019 after a case of extortion was lodged against him at Mohali. The court further directed the Banda jail authorities to extend all medical facilities (including specialty treatment as per jail manual) to Ansari.
The bench held UP’s petition maintainable citing Section 406 of the code of criminal procedure which permits an “interested party” to approach Supreme Court for transfer of cases and appeals.
The bench said, “In our opinion, a convict or an under-trial prisoner, who disobeys the law of the land, cannot oppose his transfer from one prison to another…courts are not to be a helpless bystander, when the rule of law is being challenged with impunity. In such situations, this court can exercise power under Article 142 of the Constitution of India to order transfer of prisoner from one prison to another.”
VICTORY FOR UP
The apex court ruling comes as a victory for the Uttar Pradesh government, which has made marathon efforts to get Ansari back to the state so that he can be tried for the various cases against him, a senior UP home department official said.
The official said the UP prison department has been asked to make necessary arrangements to lodge Ansari as soon as Punjab government hands him over to UP.
He said Ansari was shifted to Punjab’s Ropar jail in January 2019 on the basis of a warrant issued against him in connection with an extortion case lodged by a local businessman there. Ansari was lodged in UP’s Banda jail before being shifted to Punjab, he added.
Meanwhile, director general of UP prisons Anand Kumar said: “We are well prepared to lodge any under-trial or criminal as all security arrangements are available in UP jails.”
Additional chief secretary (ACS), home, Awanish Awasthi said it now up on the Punjab government to comply with the Supreme Court’s directive in the matter.
Notably, the UP government has been carrying out extensive drive to demolish Ansari’s network in the state and have seized or demolished property worth Rs 200 crore illegally occupied by him and his gang members. Moreover, several of his alleged gang members and aides have been gunned down or arrested since March 2017.