Overview

• On August 20, Justice Sameer Jain suspended Abbas Ansari’s conviction and set aside the two-year sentence passed by the Mau MP/MLA court on May 31 in a 2022 hate-speech case.
• The order enables restoration of his Assembly membership once a certified copy reaches the UP Legislature Secretariat, with his lawyer preparing to serve it and the Mau Sadar bypoll move expected to be withdrawn.
• The sessions court had on July 5 declined to stay the conviction; the High Court, which reserved its order on July 30, held that denying a stay would harm the electorate and cited Supreme Court precedent.
• Ansari’s disqualification took effect under Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act after the trial court verdict; the High Court relief is interim and does not amount to an acquittal as appeals continue.
• The case stems from a March 3, 2022 campaign speech in Mau; an FIR was filed on a police complaint, election agent Mansoor received six months’ jail, and brother Umar was acquitted in the trial court.