Allahabad HC quashes Mukhtar Ansari’s son’s conviction in hate speech case

Allahabad High Court on Wednesday (August 20, 2025) quashed the conviction of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s son Abbas Ansari in a 2022 hate speech case.

The relief by the HC will also restore Mr. Ansari’s Assembly membership, which was terminated after he was convicted in the case by a Mau court in May this year.

The Bench of Justice Samir Jain set aside Mau’s special MP MLA court order sentencing him to two years’ rigorous imprisonment.

An MLA from Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) which is an ally of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Mr. Ansari was accused of threatening Mau district administration during the 2022 State Assembly polls. In his speech from Paharpur ground on March 3, 2022, he had said that he will “settle scores and teach them a lesson” after the elections.

An FIR was lodged against Mr. Ansari who was booked for Sections 189 (threat to cause harm to public servant), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion, caste, place of birth, residence and language and spoiling the harmony), 171F (undue influence in election) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC.

After being convicted by the special court, Mr. Ansari had moved the district court which too had rejected his appeal on July 5. Later, he moved the HC which had reserved its order on the plea after weeks-long hearings, on July 30.

Before Abbas Ansari, the Mau Sadar constituency was represented by his father, Mukhtar Ansari, who was incarcerated in Banda district jail and died of a cardiac arrest in March 2024.