Prayagraj (UP), Jun 3 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court on Monday adjourned till July 2 the hearing of a criminal appeal filed by Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari, challenging the conviction and four-year jail term handed to him by a trial court in a Gangsters Act case.

The case was lodged against Ansari following Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Krishnanand Rai's killing in 2005.

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Along with the criminal appeal, the court is also hearing an appeal filed by the Uttar Pradesh government and a criminal revision moved by Krishnanand Rai's son Piyush Kumar Rai, seeking enhancement of Ansari's sentence.

During the hearing on Monday, Ansari's counsel Upendra Upadhyay informed the court that an objection has been filed before the registry on behalf of the appellant against Rai's criminal revision and the government's appeal.

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Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh then adjourned the hearing of the criminal appeal till July 2.

An MP-MLA court of Ghazipur had, on April 29 last year, sentenced Afzal Ansari to four years in jail and slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on him in the Gangsters Act case. Afzal Ansari's younger brother, Mukhtar Ansari, too was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment.

Subsequently, Afzal Ansari was disqualified as a member of Parliament. Thereafter, he filed the criminal appeal before the high court.

On July 24, 2023, the high court granted bail to the two-time MP and five-time former MLA, but declined to stay his conviction in the case.

As a result, though Afzal Ansari was released from jail, his membership of Parliament was not restored. Further, he was also disqualified from contesting future polls as the jail term awarded to him was for more than two years.

However, the Supreme Court later stayed his conviction. As a result, his membership of Parliament was restored and he also became eligible to contest the Lok Sabha election.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)