The Allahabad High Court has granted the Uttar Pradesh government two weeks to submit its response to a plea filed by Abbas Ansari in connection with a 2022 hate speech case from Mau district.

Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh, who passed the order on Monday, also directed Gangaram, the inspector named as opposite party no. 2, to file his reply in the matter. The court was hearing Ansari’s challenge to the forensic report of an audio recording allegedly containing the hate speech.

The judge observed:

“Learned additional government advocate prays for and is granted two weeks’ time to file counter affidavit. Let a notice be issued to opposite party no. 2 returnable at an early date. Put up this case as fresh on June 11, 2025. In the meantime, opposite party no. 2 may also file a counter affidavit, if he so desires.”

Ansari is accused of sharing the stage at a 2022 election rally in Mau where his brother allegedly made threatening remarks targeting government officials.

Following the circulation of the video on social media, Mau Police booked the Ansari brothers under Sections 171F (undue influence at elections) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.