Azam Khan, Abdullah Azam To Remain In Jail Despite Bail From SC In Theft Case

They were accused in the case of recovery of a cleaning machine of Nagar Palika Parishad Rampur, which was recovered from the campus of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.

File photo of SP leader Azam Khan.

Source : PTI

Rampur: Senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Azam Khan will remain behind bars despite getting bail from the Supreme Court in the cleaning machine theft case.

The father-son duo has been in jail since October 18, 2023, having spent more than 16 months in jail.

They were accused in the case of recovery of a cleaning machine of Nagar Palika Parishad Rampur, which was recovered from the campus of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court granted bail to both Mohammad Azam Khan and Abdullah Azam Khan in connection with the case.

However, their release is still getting delayed due to several legal hurdles.

Advocate Nasir Sultan, counsel for Azam Khan, said that despite getting bail, several other cases are pending against both of them, making their immediate release difficult.

Advocate Sultan further said that Azam Khan has been sentenced to 10 and 7 years in jail in the case of forced eviction and demolition of dozens of houses on the pretext of illegal encroachment on government land in Dungarpur. Apart from this, more than half a dozen cases are still going on against him.

Azam Khan is currently serving sentence in Sitapur jail, while Abdullah Azam Khan is lodged in Hardoi jail in the case related to enemy property.

The lawyer stressed that appeals against the sentence given to Azam Khan are pending in the High Court and the Supreme Court.

Apart from this, Azam Khan is under investigation in some other cases. His release will be possible only when the appeal is decided and bail is granted in these cases.

As far as Abdullah Azam Khan is concerned, despite getting bail from the Supreme Court, his release is getting delayed due to his involvement in the enemy property case.

"Abdullah Azam Khan has filed a bail plea in Rampur's MP-MLA Special Court, which will be heard on Friday. If the court grants him bail, he can be released from jail," the advocate said.

Azam Khan and his family members have over 100 legal cases registered against them since the Samajwadi Party government fell in 2017.

Azam Khan, a prominent Samajwadi Party leader and a 10-time MLA from Rampur Sadar, was disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in October 2022 after being found guilty in a 2019 hate speech case.

Meanwhile, Abdullah Azam Khan, Samajwadi Party MLA from Rampur's Suar constituency, was disqualified in February 2023 after being found guilty of using criminal force to deter a public servant.

Due to their conviction, both will be barred from contesting elections for six years under the Representation of the People Act. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)