The Supreme Court on Thursday, November 5, asked Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan to approach the Allahabad High Court against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) outside Rampur Jail on October 31 and his subsequent remand to judicial custody.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant requested the High Court to hear the matter on priority on November 16. The Supreme Court also allowed Khan’s lawyers, senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Nizam Pasha, to amend the petition and include additional prayers for relief.
The Bench clarified that it had not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case.
Azam Khan alleges illegal arrest and political targeting
In his petition, Khan, 78, alleged that his arrest was illegal and involved an abuse of the criminal justice process. He claimed that a series of criminal cases had been filed against him since the change of government in Uttar Pradesh, keeping him in custody through successive proceedings.
Khan argued that the timing of the latest arrest raised concerns about political targeting, particularly with the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections approaching.
Sibal told the court that the ED had allegedly treated livestock, including goats and cows, as proceeds of crime under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The senior advocate also alleged that Khan had been subjected to a series of politically motivated cases intended to ensure his continued incarceration.
Arrest outside Rampur Jail
According to Khan’s petition, he was released from Rampur Jail on October 31 after the Allahabad High Court suspended his sentence in the last remaining case in which he was imprisoned.
However, the petition alleged that ED officials arrested him outside the jail shortly after his release in connection with a seven-year-old Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR).
Sibal claimed that the officials did not provide Khan with an arrest memo, written grounds of arrest or reasons for taking him into custody.
Khan’s petition said he had been named as an accused in 95 criminal cases since 2017. It also referred to the Supreme Court’s intervention in 2022, when it granted him interim bail under Article 142 of the Constitution after another case was registered following his release on bail in 87 earlier FIRs.
The Supreme Court’s latest order directs Khan to pursue his challenge before the Allahabad High Court. It has not ruled on the legality of the ED arrest or the allegations raised in his petition.
