On Thursday, the Supreme Court told the Uttar Pradesh government to share medical and investigation reports about the death of Mukhtar Ansari, a former gangster and politician, who died on March 28 last year. A group of judges, including Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti, listened to Kapil Sibal, a lawyer for Ansari’s son, Umar. Umar said the state hadn’t given them the reports they were asking for.
Mukhtar Ansari, who was jailed since 2005, was a well-known figure in Uttar Pradesh politics, holding office five times. He reportedly died of a heart attack in a Banda hospital and faced more than 60 criminal cases during his lifetime, including one for the murder of a BJP politician, Krishnanand Rai.
Before his father’s death, Umar had asked the Supreme Court to transfer Mukhtar to a different jail because he worried about his safety. In 2023, the Uttar Pradesh government had promised to improve Mukhtar’s security in jail.
The UP government told the Supreme Court they would share the needed documents with Umar Ansari. The court has asked for these medical and investigation reports to be delivered to Umar within two weeks, allowing him three weeks to respond. After his mother’s request for protection, the Allahabad High Court ordered better security for Mukhtar in May 2024. Following his death, his brother, Afzal Ansari, claimed Mukhtar was being “slowly poisoned” in jail, but the authorities denied this accusation.
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