Prayagraj, 7 May: Allahabad High Court has rejected the petition of Meerut MLA Rafiq Ansari, refusing to grant relief in the 1995 case. The NBW order was challenged in the petition.
The court gave the said order after observing that the SP leader failed to appear in the court despite more than 100 non-bailable warrants (NBW) being issued between 1997 and 2015.
Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh’s bench said that the sitting MLA not executing the non-bailable warrant against him and allowing him to attend the Assembly session sets a dangerous and serious precedent. By allowing individuals facing serious criminal charges to escape legal accountability, “we risk perpetuating a culture of impunity and disrespect for the rule of law”. The High Court made this comment while quashing petition of Ansari related to the criminal case under sections 147, 436 and 427 of the IPC pending in the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate MP MLA Court.
In this case an FIR was registered in September 1995, against 35-40 unknown persons for offenses under the above sections. After completion of the investigation, the first charge sheet was presented against 22 accused. Thereafter another supplementary charge sheet was presented against the applicant Ansari, of which the concerned court took cognizance in August 1997. Ansari did not appear before the court, so NBW was issued on 12 December 1997.
Later, despite repeated procedures under NBW (No. 101) and Section 82 CrPC, the applicant did not appear before the Court. Seeking quashing of the cases, Ansari moved the High Court, where his lawyer argued that 22 accused originally faced trial were acquitted vide judgment and order dated 15 May 1997.
Therefore the proceedings against him should be cancelled. The court said that the evidence recorded in a criminal case against any accused is limited only to the guilt of that accused. It has no effect on the co-accused. The Court observed that acquittal by the co-accused cannot be considered as a ground for exercising the power to quash the proceedings against those accused under the relevant circumstances and section 482 of CrPC, who did not face trial. Perusing the order sheet of the trial court, the court said that 13 NBW and 89 NBW and processes under sections 82 and 83 of CrPC were issued against him.
Subsequently 21 non-bailable warrants and processes were issued against him (between April 2022 and February 2024). Despite this he failed to appear in court. Under the peculiar facts of the case, the court said that it cannot close its eyes and remain a mute spectator. The court said that there should not be selective behaviour among the public in implementing the law.
The court said that not executing the non-bailable warrant against the sitting MLA and allowing him to participate in the assembly session sets a dangerous and serious precedent, which undermines the integrity of the state machinery and judicial system while eroding public confidence in elected representatives. It is imperative that elected officials maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct and accountability, lest they betray the essence of their mandate to serve the public good.
In this background, the court rejected his petition and directed that a copy of its order be sent to the Principal Secretary of the UP Assembly for placing it before the Assembly Speaker for information. The court also directed the Director General of Police of UP to ensure execution of the non-bailable warrant already issued by the trial court against Ansari. If the same has not yet been served and compliance affidavit will be filed on the next date. The Court has directed to list the matter for July 22 for the limited purpose of filing the compliance affidavit.
