Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has denied bail to a member of the Mukhtar Ansari gang in a 2010 murder case in Mau district, in which the jailed gangster-turned-politician is also an accused. The court noted that Ansari’s gang is “India’s most dreaded criminal gang” and it is possible that accused Ramu Mallah may influence witnesses and their statements in the case if allowed to come out of jail.
Mallah, who is facing trial in several other cases, had filed a bail application under Section 439 of the CrPC, which empowers the court to grant bail and also impose conditions on the accused, if necessary.
Opposing the bail application, public prosecutor Ratnendu Kumar Singh said that the accused can influence the witnesses and get acquitted in the present case. The court agreed to this.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh, in his order dated March 1, said, “Merely because the accused has been acquitted because the witnesses have turned hostile in some (other) cases, his criminal history does not end.”
“The accused applicant is a dreaded criminal and a member of India’s most dreaded criminal gang i.e. Mukhtar Ansari’s gang. The accused applicant is facing multiple criminal cases of heinous crimes,” it said.
The court observed that if such a criminal is allowed to come out of jail, he would definitely be in a position to influence the witnesses and free and truthful testimony of the witnesses would be impossible.
“Therefore, I do not find any merit in the contention of the learned counsel for the accused applicant that since the accused applicant has secured acquittal (in certain other cases), he should be released on bail. Thus, the present application is rejected?” Justice Singh joined.
The court also urged the state to provide security and assistance to witnesses for a free and fair trial.
“Free and fair trials and protection of the rule of law are not possible if the state does not provide protection and support to witnesses for their free, frank and fearless deposition,” it said.
The court found it strange that a coordinate bench of the High Court had granted bail to Mallah in 2013 in this case.
Gangster Mukhtar Ansari, who was an MLA from Mau, is currently lodged in Banda Jail. He was brought to Banda Jail from a jail in Punjab in April 2021 following a Supreme Court order. His son Abbas Ansari now represents the constituency in the UP Legislative Assembly.