Arms ACT case: Allahabad HC rejects Abbas Ansari’s anticipatory bail petition

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail of SBSP MLA Abbas Ansari in a case of alleged violation of Arms Act registered at the Mahanagar police station in Lucknow, in 2019. He was also booked on other charges including forgery for the purpose of cheating and forgery of valuable security, will, etc.

Abbas is an MLA Mau Sadar and the son of jailed former MLA Mukhtar Ansari.  The case against Abbas was registered in October 2019 on the basis of a police inquiry report which found that he had purchased more than one weapon on an arms license that was issued to him in 2012. The license was issued to Abbas for his Lucknow address.

According to the report, Abbas got his arms license transferred to his Vasant Kunj address in Delhi in 2015 without informing the authorities in Lucknow or the police.

While rejecting anticipatory bail plea, Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh said, “Considering the serious allegations that accused-applicant got registered his arm license fraudulently and obtained prohibited barrels, weapons and cartridges in large numbers by taking ground of shooting…this Court does not find any ground to grant anticipatory bail to the accused-applicant. Thus, the anticipatory bail application is rejected.”