Senior Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Azam Khan walked out of Sitapur jail on Tuesday after remaining behind bars for around two years.
Khan secured bail in the Quality Bar land encroachment case. SP MLA Shivpal Singh Yadav, who was present to receive Khan, welcomed the court’s decision while accusing the Yogi Adityanath government of framing his colleague in false cases.
“Azam Khan was trapped in fabricated cases. The court has now granted him bail, providing much-needed relief. I thank both the Supreme Court and the High Court. Many false cases were lodged against him, but the Samajwadi Party firmly stands with him,” Yadav told reporters in Jaswantnagar.
When asked about speculation that Khan might switch to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Yadav dismissed it as “baseless rumours,” reaffirming that the SP remains united behind him.
Khan’s advocate, Mohammad Khalid, confirmed that with this bail order from the Allahabad High Court, there are no pending cases keeping the veteran leader behind bars. “As of today, bail has been granted in all the cases. The release process may take two to three days, but legally there is nothing stopping him from walking free,” he said.
The allegations claimed Khan misused his position as a Cabinet minister in 2013 to lease land to a family member. However, his advocate argued that the land was allotted through a proper tendering process, where Khan’s wife emerged as the highest bidder. The FIR was lodged in 2019, with Khan later named during further investigation in 2024.
Earlier in May, Khan and seven others were acquitted in another case linked to the 2016 Dungarpur incident, where houses were demolished during the SP government’s Asara housing scheme. The MP-MLA court in Rampur acquitted him citing lack of evidence.