Senior SP Leader and Son Face 7-Year Prison Term
A Rampur court delivered a significant verdict on Monday, sentencing senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Azam Khan to seven years of imprisonment in a PAN card forgery case. The court ordered their immediate custody following the conviction, marking another legal setback for the prominent political figure.
Court Proceedings and Immediate Consequences
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Shobit Bansal found both father and son guilty of multiple charges including forgery, cheating, and criminal conspiracy. Joint Director of Prosecution Rohtash Kumar Pandey confirmed the conviction and revealed that fines have also been imposed alongside the prison sentences.
The court examined nine prosecution witnesses and eighteen defense witnesses before reaching its decision. Azam Khan's lawyer Nasir Sultan immediately announced plans to appeal against the judgment, indicating the legal battle is far from over.
The PAN Card Forgery Allegations
The case originated from an FIR lodged on December 6, 2019 by Akash Saxena, who is now a sitting BJP MLA. The complaint alleged that Abdullah Azam Khan had been using two different PAN cards with conflicting dates of birth to derive undue benefits.
According to prosecution details, Abdullah initially used a PAN card showing his date of birth as January 1, 1993, which matched his educational records and was used for banking and income tax purposes. However, when contesting the 2017 Assembly elections from Suar constituency as an SP candidate, he allegedly submitted nomination papers with a different PAN card showing his birth date as September 30, 1990.
The prosecution argued that this manipulation was done to conceal age-related disqualification for contesting elections. They further alleged that Abdullah, in conspiracy with his father, submitted fabricated documents including a forged bank passbook copy with his nomination papers.
Azam Khan's Ongoing Legal Battles
This conviction adds to Azam Khan's growing list of legal troubles. The senior SP leader had only recently been released from Sitapur jail on bail on September 23 this year, after spending nearly two years in custody.
A ten-time MLA from Rampur Sadar and former Cabinet minister, Azam Khan faces numerous cases registered against him since the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017. Police records indicate that over 81 cases were filed against him, with approximately 70 registered in 2019 alone.
With this latest conviction, Azam Khan has now been convicted in seven cases across Rampur and Moradabad. While he has filed appeals against all convictions and secured bail in six of them, the legal challenges continue to mount for one of Samajwadi Party's most prominent Muslim leaders.
