Mumbai: The Bombay High COurt (HC) has asked the Maharashtra government to file an affidavit in response to the plea by Fahim Ansari, who was acquitted in the 26/11 terror attack case, in his plea seeking police clearance certificate to enable him “to drive an auto-rickshaw for his livelihood”.
Additional Public Prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh told a bench headed by Justice Sarang Kotwal that the State will have to verify the claims made by Ansari. Deshmukh said she will have to take instructions from a senior officer and confirm the facts, and sought time to file an affidavit in response.
Ansari and one Sabauddin Ahmed from India were accused of aiding and abetting terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in conducting the dastardly attacks on November 26, 2008, that killed 166 people. On May 6, 2010, a special court acquitted the duo citing lack of evidence. Their acquittal was upheld by the HC and then the Supreme Court too.
However, Ansari was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in jail in another case in Uttar Pradesh. He was released in 2019 after serving his sentence. Ansari approached the HC after the police refused to grant him clearance certificate, which is mandatory for plying an auto-rickshaw for commercial purpose.
His plea contended that the decision was “arbitrary, illegal and discriminatory” as the same violated his fundamental rights for livelihood. “The petitioner is legally entitled to engage in gainful employment, free from any legal blemish or barriers,” the plea said.
Further, Ansari argued that just because he was tried for the 26/11 attack, the same cannot act as a blanket ban that disentitles him from availing job opportunities, especially when he has been acquitted by all courts. He claimed that after being released from jail in 2019, he secured a job at a printing press in Mumbai but that shut down during Covid. Thereafter, he got a job in a printing press in Mumbra. However, since the income was low, Ansari applied for an auto-rickshaw license, which he got on January 1, 2024, said the plea.
Thereafter, he applied for the police clearance certificate and subsequently filed an RTI query when there was no response on his application. Ansari said that he was informed that the certificate could not be issued as he was accused of being a member of LeT. The HC has scheduled the plea for hearing on April 3.
