Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 21 (HBTV): The Allahabad High Court has overturned the conviction of Abbas Ansari, son of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari and MLA from Mau, in a 2022 hate speech case and restored his Assembly membership.

On Wednesday, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) MLA Abbas Ansari received relief after the High Court quashed the MP/MLA court’s order of conviction, which had led to his disqualification from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.

His advocate, Upendra Upadhyay, said, ‘Abbas Ansari's membership of the UP Vidhan Sabha was revoked, and he was sentenced to two years by the CJM court. In response, he filed an appeal in the Sessions Court, which granted him bail but did not stay the punishment, preventing the restoration of his membership. Subsequently, he went to the High Court, which today stayed the punishment, resulting in the restoration of his membership.’

Reacting to the order, Abbas Ansari’s uncle, Sibgatullah Ansari, said, ‘This is the victory of justice and fairness. We all believed we were innocent and would definitely get justice, with the punishment given to Abbas Ansari being cancelled. Speaking in court cases is also a crime in today's time... the only thing is that we have got justice; this is the victory of justice... even today justice is alive in the judiciary, due to which the country is moving forward.’

Abbas Ansari had filed a petition in the High Court on July 17 to challenge the two-year sentence handed down by the MP/MLA Special Court in Mau. On May 31, the Chief Judicial Magistrate (MP-MLA) court in Mau had awarded him two years’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of INR 3,000 in connection with the 2022 hate speech case. On this basis, he lost his MLA post on June 1, 2025. His aide, Mansoor Ansari, was also sentenced to six months in prison.

Ansari was booked for delivering a provocative speech against the Mau district administration while the model code of conduct was in force. The FIR, lodged in March 2022 at Kotwali police station in Mau, named Abbas Ansari, Umar Ansari, and others. It was alleged that on March 3, 2022, at Pahadpura ground, Abbas Ansari, Umar Ansari, and organiser Mansoor Ahmad Ansari, during a public meeting, called for settling a score with the Mau administration.

Earlier, the Allahabad High Court had refused anticipatory bail to him in the case. On December 19, 2023, the court rejected his plea, observing that an offence was made out based on the facts and circumstances. He later approached the Supreme Court against the High Court’s order.

Abbas Ansari contested and won the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election from the Sadar seat in Mau on an SBSP ticket, as the party was then an ally of the Samajwadi Party.

As per the Representation of the People Act, a sentence of two years or more can lead to disqualification from holding public office, pending appeal.

(ANI)