Supreme Court Grants Bail to MLA Abbas Ansari in Money Laundering Case
New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has granted bail to MLA Abbas Ansari in connection with a money laundering case. Abbas Ansari is the son of the late gangster-politician and former MLA Mukhtar Ansari, who passed away in jail earlier this year.
The decision came from a bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Pankaj Mithal. On August 14, the apex court had issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and sought its response regarding Ansari’s appeal, which challenged an earlier bail rejection by the Allahabad High Court.
The Allahabad High Court had dismissed Ansari’s bail plea on May 9, citing substantial evidence, including flow charts that illustrated the origin of the funds and their movement into Ansari’s accounts. The high court noted that the money trail connected Ansari to transactions involving two firms, M/s Vikas Construction and M/s Aaghaaz, which the ED alleges were used for laundering money.
The ED registered a case against Ansari, a member of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, based on three prior cases. Ansari has been in custody since November 4, 2022, and is currently held in Kasganj jail.
The Supreme Court’s ruling marks a significant development in the ongoing legal proceedings involving Ansari.
