Hand over custody of gangster turned politician Mukhtar Ansari to UP, SC tells Punjab

New Delhi, Mar 26: The Supreme Court has directed the Punjab government to hand over custody of gangster turned politician Mukhtar Ansari to the Uttar Pradesh police within two weeks.

The court was hearing a plea filed by Uttar Pradesh seeking a direction to the Punjab government and Rupnagar jail authority to immediately hand over the custody of Ansari to district jail Banda.

It has also sought a direction to transfer the criminal proceedings and trial in the extortion case in Punjab to the special court in Allahabad.

Ansari is lodged in district jail Rupnagar in Punjab since January 2019.

In its affidavit filed in the court, Punjab had referred to the medical condition of Ansari and said that he had been undergoing treatment at jail hospital as well as other hospitals from time to time since January 2019.

While referring to the medical condition and advice of doctors, it has said that custody of Ansari "could not be handed over to the state of Uttar Pradesh due to the specific advice of the medical officers/medical board/specialists" from time to time.