Slain UP gangster Jeeva's wife seeks quashing of FIR, SC issues notice

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a plea filed by the wife of slain criminal Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva, seeking to quash the FIR registered against her under the UP Gangster Act.

Jeeva, an aide of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari, was shot dead inside a courtroom in Lucknow on 7 June.

A bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Sanjay Kumar issued a notice and sought a response from the Uttar Pradesh government and others within two weeks.

However, it refused to pass any interim direction protecting Payal Maheshwari from arrest.

Senior advocate Siddharth Bhatnagar, instructed by advocate Aarif Ali, claimed that the petitioner was booked under the Gangster Act to "wreak vengeance" after she secured bail in the base case.

The special leave petition claimed that the FIR was lodged for political considerations and the entire family has been falsely implicated.

In June, Payal Maheshwari had moved the top court claiming a threat to her life and also sought bail to attend the last rites of her husband. But she did not attend her husband's cremation after a vacation bench of the Supreme Court had declined an urgent hearing in the matter.

In May, Allahabad High Court had refused to quash the criminal proceedings under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 saying that the allegation in the first information report (FIR) constituted a cognisable offence.

"The writ petition is therefore, dismissed without prejudice to the rights of the petitioner to apply for bail or anticipatory bail," the high court had said.

Jeeva, a dreaded shooter from Muzaffarnagar, was a co-accused in BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai's murder, in which Ansari is also an accused.

The gangster began his professional life as a compounder or doctor's assistant, but then became a member of the underworld. He was a close associate of Munna Bajrangi, who was shot dead in 2018 in Baghpat jail.