Supreme Court grants bail to MLA Abbas Ansari in money laundering case

New Delhi:

In a relief to Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) MLA Abbas Ansari, the Supreme Court on Friday granted him bail in connection with a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

A bench headed by Justice MM Sundresh set aside the Allahabad High Court’s May 9 order rejecting his bail application.

The bench, which also included Justice Pankaj Mithal, ordered the release of Abbas Ansari, son of late gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, on bail under the conditions imposed by the trial court.

The Supreme Court said the trial court would impose conditions so that the accused could not influence witnesses or tamper with evidence.

Earlier in August, the top court issued a notice on the matter, asking the ED to file its reply to the special leave petition filed by Ansari, a sitting MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Mau.

The Allahabad High Court, in its May 9 order, rejected his bail plea but directed the concerned court to expedite the trial at the earliest.

Justice Jaspreet Singh of Allahabad HC said: “This court is at this stage unable to find a prima facie satisfaction in terms of Section 45 of the PMLA that the applicant is not guilty or is likely to be not guilty” against bail commit a crime.”

The court also took note of the money trail presented by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the case against Ansari. It said that the money trail links Ansari to the movement of money to and from the two companies – M/s Vikas Construction and M/s Aaghaaz. The ED has alleged that Ansari’s companies were used for money laundering.

The ED initiated an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on three different FIRs related to predicate offenses.

In the first criminal case, the partners of a construction company were accused of interfering with public property by forging documents.

The other FIR arises from allegations that Mukhtar Ansari took money from the MLA fund to build a school even though no school was built and the land is used for agricultural purposes. The third FIR alleged that Ansaris took advantage of their influence and grabbed government land and built an illegal house.

Abbas Ansari’s release depends on the outcome of his individual bail applications in unlawful prison visits and gangster law cases, which are scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Surya Kant on Friday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)