The Supreme Court on Friday rejected to pass any urgent order on a plea by Payal Maheshwari, wife of gangster Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva who was shot dead in a courtroom in Lucknow.
Payal sought protection from arrest in a criminal case registered against her in Uttar Pradesh.
A vacation bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal noted the state government’s submission that Jeeva’s funeral had already taken place, and Payal to stay away.
Payal’s lawyer requested the bench to consider her plea for protection against arrest. However, the bench refused to entertain the plea, stating that the urgent hearing was granted solely due to the impending funeral of her husband.
The bench added that “The stand is continuously shifting…let the matter be listed after vacation. There is no urgency for a hearing during the vacation.”
The additional advocate general representing the Uttar Pradesh government informed the bench that Payal didn’t attend her husband’s funeral, despite the state’s undertaking to the court.
The government claimed that she is the leader of the gang and continues to operate it from outside, while her husband was imprisoned.
Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva (48) had a total of 26 cases registered against him, including murder, extortion, robbery, and cheating.
He was convicted in the 1997 murder case of BJP leader Brahm Dutt Dwivedi and was serving a life sentence.
Jeeva, along with gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, was also accused of the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai.
