SC orders transfer of don Mukhtar Ansari from Punjab jail to Baanda

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.