SP leader Azam Khan convicted for 2019 hate speech, gets 2 years in jail
The case was registered against Azam Khan for a speech that he gave during campaigning for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections
LUCKNOW: A Rampur court on Saturday convicted Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan in a hate speech case registered against him during campaigning for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and sentenced him to two years imprisonment.
The case against Azam Khan was registered for derogatory remarks against the then Rampur district magistrate Aunjaneya Kumar Singh and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath in 2019 when he contested the election as the candidate of the shortlived alliance between the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party and Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
The complaint was filed by Rampur district’s assistant development officer (Panchayat) Anil Kumar Chauhan at Shahjad Nagar police station after a video clip of Azam Khan’s speech went viral.
Azam Khan was convicted in another case of hate speech in 2019 and sentenced to three years in jail by an MP-MLA magistrate court on October 17, 2022, which led to his disqualification from the Uttar Pradesh assembly two days later. A sessions court designated to try parliamentarians and legislators in Rampur in May this year overturned the conviction and acquitted Azam Khan in the case. After Khan’s disqualification from the assembly, a bypoll was held in the Rampur Sadar seat. BJP’s Akash Saxena, the complainant in the alleged hate speech case, defeated Khan’s close aide and SP candidate Asim Raja.
The acquittal did not help Azam Khan since he and his son Abdullah Azam Khan were also convicted and sentenced to two years in jail on February 14 by a Moradabad court in connection with a 2008 case for assaulting public servants in the district’s Chhajlet area.
The 2008 incident took place soon after Azam Khan’s vehicle was stopped by the police for routine checking.
Khan was a cabinet minister in the Samajwadi Party government led by Akhilesh Yadav from 2012-2017.
Khan was released from Sitapur district jail in May 2022 after remaining behind bars for 27 months after the Supreme Court granted him bail in a land-grab case. He walked out of prison after receiving bail in all 81 cases lodged against him.
