New Delhi: Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Abdullah Azam Khan on Wednesday was disqualified from Uttar Pradesh Assembly after a Moradabad court sentenced him to two-year imprisonment in a 15-year-old case, news agency PTI reported.
Earlier on Monday, the Moradabad court awarded the jail term to Abdullah Azam Khan and his father Azam Khan in the 2008 case. They were accused of sitting on a dharna on a state highway on January 29, 2008, as their cavalcade was stopped by the police for checking, in the wake of an attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in Rampur on December 31, 2007.
However, the court has granted bail to both of them.
The SP leader and his father were booked under sections 353 (criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
It is to be noted that last year in October, Azam Khan, who represented the Rampur Sadar assembly constituency, faced disqualification after a court sentenced him to three years jail term in a hate speech case.
The UP Assembly officials has earlier said that they are waiting for the copy of the Moradabad court's judgment and would take a decision on declaring the Swar seat vacant on receiving it.
The Representation of the People Act lists offences that can lead to disqualification of party legislators, and also states that anyone sentenced to imprisonment of two years or more shall be disqualified "from the date of such conviction" and remain disqualified for another six years after serving the jail term.
Notably, with the SP leader losing his assembly membership after conviction in the 2008 case, the family of Azam Khan is likely to be out of power in Rampur. Since 2002, at least one member of the “once mighty” family has been a lawmaker in the constituency.