SC refuses to interfere with relief granted to Abbas Ansari in hate speech case

NEW DELHI: In a relief to Mau MLA Abbas Ansari, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere with the Allahabad High Court order staying his conviction in a 2022 hate speech case, effectively allowing him to continue as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi dismissed the Uttar Pradesh government’s plea challenging the Allahabad High Court order, which had granted relief to Ansari, the son of late gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari.

The Allahabad High Court, in its August 20, 2025, order, had set aside the Sessions Court’s refusal to stay Ansari’s conviction and held that the case warranted exercise of the appellate court's power in “rare and exceptional circumstances”.

“The conviction of the revisionist deprived his constituency of legitimate representation… refusal to stay his conviction amounts to injustice not only to the revisionist but also to the electorate,” a single-judge Bench of Justice Sameer Jain had observed.