Prayagraj, Aug 3 The Allahabad High Court on Monday stayed the arrest of Afzal Ansari, Member of Parliament, in an FIR registered by Ghazipur police after a file related to the purchase and sale of a firearm on his licence allegedly went missing.
The court said that the interim relief is granted till the next date of hearing on August 10.
The police lodged an FIR after allegedly uncovering the missing official records, irregularities in weapon transactions and an untraceable rifle purchased on the MP's licence.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Siddharth Varma and Justice Achal Sachdev granted interim relief to Ansari.
According to the petitioner's advocate Upendra Upadhyay, the state government counsel requested the court to adjourn the hearing so that Additional Advocate General Manish Goel may appear in this case on the next date. The court fixed August 10 for hearing and granted interim relief to Ansari till then.
According to the police, the records were deliberately made to disappear in collusion with arms clerks concerned. Based on the investigation, an FIR was registered at Kotwali police station in Ghazipur against Afzal Ansari, former arms clerk Gaurishankar Lal and another arms clerk, Sugriv Tiwari, under charges of cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy and relevant provisions of the Arms Act.
