Lucknow, May 27: Samajwadi Party MLA Rafiq Ansari, representing Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, was apprehended in Lucknow for failing to comply with a non-bailable warrant issued against him in a 1995 criminal case by the Allahabad High Court, officials announced on Monday.
The arrest was carried out by a team formed by the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), led by the Circle Officer (CO) of Civil Lines. The warrant stemmed from a pending criminal case against MLA Rafiq Ansari under sections 147, 436, and 427 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which was contested in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, MP- MLA, Meerut.
The case dates back to September 1995 when an FIR was lodged against 35 to 40 unidentified individuals, with a subsequent charge sheet filed against 22 of them. A supplementary charge sheet was later submitted, and the court acknowledged it in August 1997.
Despite the legal proceedings, Rafiq Ansari failed to appear in court, leading to the issuance of a non-bailable warrant on December 12, 1997, followed by 101 subsequent warrants. Despite efforts to enforce the warrant under Section 82 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), Ansari did not present himself in court and instead approached the High Court to challenge the warrants.
Ansari's legal counsel argued that 22 of the accused had been acquitted in a judgment dated May 15, 1997, suggesting that action against the MLA should be annulled. However, the court directed the Director-General of Police (DGP) to ensure the execution of the non-bailable warrant issued by the trial court against Rafiq Ansari.
