New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to furnish enquiry reports pertaining to the death of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, including medical reports, to his son Umar Ansari.
A bench headed by Justice Hrishikesh Roy told Additional Solicitor General K.M. Natraj, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, to provide a copy of reports within a period of two weeks.
Seeking inquiry into the death of his father, Umar Ansari claimed that it was not a death simpliciter but the result of slow poisoning in jail and has filed an application calling for an inquiry into it.
Umar Ansari alleged that food given to his father in jail was poisoned and he was denied the requisite medical treatment.
In an earlier hearing, the top court had asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file a response within four weeks to the application seeking modification of the prayers.
In a writ petition filed before the apex court in December 2023, Umar Ansari apprehended that there was a plan to assassinate his father in Banda jail prior to the 2024 polls and sought the transfer of Mukhtar Ansari to any jail outside UP.
The Uttar Pradesh government had assured the Supreme Court that if needed, it would enhance the security of Ansarif to ensure no harm is caused to him within jail precincts.
On January 16 last year, after going through a confidential note detailing the security arrangements made by the state authorities, the SC had expressed satisfaction with the steps taken and observed that the security measures appeared “formidable enough”.
It ordered the matter to be taken up for further hearing in the third week of July 2024.
In the meantime, Mukhtar Ansari died of cardiac arrest at the Rani Durgawati Medical College in Banda district on March 28 last year while serving jail time. His viscera test report confirmed that no poison had been found and the cause of death was found to be heart attack. The post-mortem was conducted by a panel of five doctors in the rank of Chief Medical Superintendent.
A recent report by the District Magistrate of Banda reiterated that Mukhtar Ansari died in prison due to a heart attack and not because of slow poisoning. The report, corroborating the findings of the post-mortem report, has been submitted to the state administration.
Following protests by the family, the Uttar Pradesh government had announced a magisterial probe into his death.
Mukhtar Ansari, a five-time MLA from Mau Sadar seat was in a Punjab jail since 2005, before being moved to Uttar Pradesh. He had over 60 criminal cases pending against him. He was sentenced in at least eight cases since September 2022 by different courts and was lodged in the Banda jail, where he died.
Ansari’s son Umar Ansari cried foul over his death, claiming that his father was subjected to “slow poisoning” in prison and demanded his autopsy by AIIMS doctors in Delhi.
(IANS)
