New Delhi: Jailed Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court Thursday in a cheating case. The Apex court passed the bail order under article 142 of the Constitution. Khan has been allowed to file for a regular bail before the court within two weeks.Till then the interim bail will continue to operate, said the court
The order was passed by a three-judge bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, BR Gavai, and AS Bopanna.
“This is a fit case to exercise the powers under Article 142,” said the three-judge bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao, as reported by news agency PTI.
Article 142 of the Constitution deals with the Supreme Court’s power to exercise its jurisdiction and pass the order for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it.
The Uttar Pradesh government had earlier opposed Khan’s bail plea and termed him as a “land grabber” and a “habitual offender”.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, had told the apex court that he had allegedly threatened the investigating officer in the land grabbing case.
On May 17, the Supreme Court had reserved its order on the interim bail plea of Azam Khan in a case relating to the Kotwali police station in Uttar Pradesh, reported news agency ANI.
Khan has been lodged in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur jail since February 2020 over cases registered against him, including a land grabbing case in his constituency Rampur.
(With Agency Inputs)