SC orders transfer of Mukhtar Ansari from Ropar jail to Banda jail in UP

New Delhi [India], March 26 : The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the transfer of mafia don and BSP MLA Mukhtar Ansari from Ropar jail in Punjab to Banda jail in Uttar Pradesh within two weeks.
A Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and Justice R Subhash Reddy directed that Ansari should be handed to Uttar Pradesh within two weeks and also rejected the Punjab government's opposition to transfer him to UP.
The top court also dismissed the plea of Ansari seeking transfer of cases pending against him in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi.
The Bench said Ansari shall be lodged in Banda jail and the jail Superintendent will extend necessary medical facilities.
The order of the apex court came on a plea filed by the Uttar Pradesh government seeking transfer of custody of Mukhtar Ansari, from Punjab to UP to face trial in as many as 14 cases pending over there and also on Ansari's plea seeking transfer of cases pending against him in UP to Delhi.
Ansari had approached the top court after the UP government moved the court and alleged there is a threat to his life in Uttar Pradesh as one of the co-accused was "eliminated in encounter" by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh government had argued that Ansari is being "vociferously defended by the state of Punjab" and that he is enjoying in the Punjab jail.
Punjab had asked the top court to reject the request of the UP government to shift Ansari while citing that he is suffering from hypertension, diabetes, depression, back pain and skin allergy.
The Bench had earlier sought the Punjab government and gangster Ansari's response on the plea. It had also asked the Punjab government to file a detailed reply on the pending case against Ansari, the status of the trial and his medical condition.
The Uttar Pradesh government in its plea said that serious charges are pending in Uttar Pradesh against Ansari. He has remained in Punjab for two years in a "minor case".
The Uttar Pradesh government had also said that either Ansari should be transferred to UP to face trial, or the case in Punjab to be transferred to a UP court if a charge sheet has been filed. The Uttar Pradesh government had alleged that no chargesheet has been filed in Punjab so far. Ansari trying to "play with the federal structure" and misuse provisions of the CrPC, it added.
The Uttar Pradesh government had approached the top court to bring Ansari to the state for an appearance before UP court. Ansari is involved in many criminal cases involving murder, gangster act etc.
Ansari, MLA from Mau, has been lodged in a Ropar jail in Punjab since January 2019 where he was named in an extortion case. Since then Ansari has not applied for bail in the FIR registered in Punjab and the police have also not filed any charge-sheet against him.
Earlier, several production warrants were issued against Ansari but Punjab Police did not allow him to be shifted to Uttar Pradesh on the grounds of ill health.
On his part, Ansari has apprehended a threat to his life in Uttar Pradesh and sought to appear in cases through video conferencing only.
The Yogi Adityanath government has taken tough measures against Mukhtar Ansari and people running illegal businesses under his name. Alleged illegal properties worth crores of rupees related to Ansari in Lucknow, Mau and Ghazipur have been demolished by the state agencies.