HC Grants Abbas Ansari Protection From Arrest Over Speech Threatening Officials

A bench of Justices Sunita Agarwal and Vikas Kunvar Srivastav ordered that the petitioner, Abbas Ansari, shall not be arrested till April 27 and he will be under obligation to cooperate in the investigation.

"In case of any act of the petitioner of non-cooperation in the ongoing investigation, it would be open for the respondents to approach this court for vacation of this interim order," the bench said.

The case was registered on March 4 against Ansari, who won the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls from Mau on the ticket of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), which was in a tie-up with the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party.

Ansari moved the court challenging the FIR and also sought protection from arrest in the matter.

His counsel submitted that the local police was trying to arrest him in the case by adding more grave charges.

The petitioner is an elected MLA of Mau and he is being targeted to not allow him to take an oath of office, the counsel said.

The Election Commission had then barred Ansari from campaigning for 24 hours for his speech.

In a purported video clip of his speech, Ansari is seen telling a crowd during an election event that he has talked to Yadav to make sure that no transfer or posting takes place in the six months after the party comes to power in the state.

"Jo yahan hai wo yahan hi rahega, pehle hisaab-kitab hoga uske baad unke jaane ke certificate par mohar lagaya jaega (Those who are here, will remain here. The first account will be settled with them and only after that their departure papers will be stamped," Ansari is purportedly seen saying in the video.

The SP-led alliance lost the election held over February and March to the BJP.?