The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea filed by jailed gangster and BSP MLA Mukhtar Ansari for a stay on his arrest in connection with an FIR lodged against him and his two sons for alleged grabbing of a property in the posh Dalibagh area of the city. Justices Ramesh Sinha and Rajeev Singh of the Lucknow bench of the high court reserved the detailed order rejecting Ansari’s petition.

The court, however, extended the stay on arrest of his two sons – Abbas and Umar till March 4, as their lawyer had sought time to file a rejoinder affidavit against the counter affidavit filed by the state government. Ansari’s two sons were granted a interim stay on arrest on October 21, 2020, in the same matter.

Challenging the FIR lodged with Hazartganj police, Ansari had pleaded that it did not disclose the commission of cognisance offence and that it had been lodged due to mala fide reasons. An FIR was lodged with Hazratganj police on August 27, 2020, stating that Mukhtar Ansari and his sons committed cheating and forgery in regard to a land in Dalibag area and got a map sanctioned by the LDA in a fraudulent manner for the purpose of undertaking construction on it.