Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Azam were met with contrasting outcomes in two separate cases. The Special Sessions Court acquitted the duo in a 2019 attempted murder case, citing a lack of evidence. Simultaneously, their seven-year sentence in a four-year-old forgery case was upheld.
Senior Prosecution Officer Amarnath Tiwari stated, “Special Sessions Judge Vijay Kumar granted Azam Khan, his son, and two other relatives relief in the attempt to murder case for lack of evidence.” The attempted murder case revolved around allegations that the accused had threatened a neighbour to vacate a plot of land, leading to charges under sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 323 (causing grievous hurt) of the IPC.
However, in a blow to the political heavyweight and his family, the court rejected their plea against the seven-year imprisonment in the forgery case. Tiwari said, “On the completion of the hearing on the appeal, Special Sessions Judge Vijay Kumar rejected the plea, stating that there were no legal mistakes in the judgment given by the lower court.”
Azam Khan, currently incarcerated in Sitapur prison, has been a formidable political figure with 10 terms as an MLA and stints in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. His son Abdullah Azam, who won the Suar constituency in the 2022 assembly election, faced disqualification earlier this year after being convicted in a 2008 case of wrongful restraint and assault on a public servant. The high court refused his plea for a stay of conviction, in adherence to the Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951, which mandates disqualification for anyone sentenced to imprisonment of two years or more.
