The sentence was pronounced by Ghazipur MP/MLA Court moments after he was convicted in the case along with his brother Mukhtar Ansari. He is the third MP to be disqualified this year.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Afzal Ansari, brother of jailed politician Mukhtar Ansari, was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Monday, May 1, following his conviction in a 2007 Gangsters Act case two days ago. The Ghazipur MP-MLA court last week sentenced Afzal to four years in prison and a fine of Rs 1 lakh was imposed on him.
The court also convicted Mukhtar Ansari in the same case and sentenced him to 10 years of imprisonment and slapped a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on him.
“Consequent upon his conviction…Afzal Ansari, Member of Lok Sabha representing the Ghazipur Parliamentary Constituency of Uttar Pradesh, stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction i.e. 29 April, 2023 in terms of the provisions of Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution of India read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951,” said the Lok Sabha secretariat, in a notification disqualifying Ansari.
LiveLaw reported last week that the sentence was pronounced by th Ghazipur MP/MLA Court moments after he was convicted in the case along with his brother Mukhtar Ansari. Provisions contained in Article 102 of the Indian constitution, dealing with the disqualification of representatives, read with Section 8 (3)of the Representation of People Act 1951, have ensured that Ansari stands disqualified to be a member of the Lok Sabha.
The Gangsters Act case was registered against the Ansari brothers in connection with the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai in November 2005 and the kidnapping and murder of Vishva Hindu Parishad leader Nand Kishore Rungta in January 1997.
This year has seen dramatic developments around the disqualification of MPs from the Lok Sabha. Lakshadweep MP Mohammad Faizal, a Nationalist Congress Party leader, was disqualified in January this year. After obtaining a stay on the conviction, he managed to get his disqualification reversed by the Lok Sabha Secretariat in late March – albeit belatedly and on the same day that the Supreme Court was set to hear his plea about the delay. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi, the former president of the Congress party, remains disqualified. His appeal in the matter of the defamation conviction of two years, just enough to ensure his disqualification, will be heard by the Gujarat high court later this week.