Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan was sentenced to three years in jail by an MP/MLA Designated Court in Rampur which held him guilty of hate speech targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during an election campaign in 2019.
"I have not lost faith in the judiciary. I will appeal before the higher court," the Samajwadi Party MLA said.
Azam Khan, 74, was granted bail and given a week’s time to appeal against the sentence in higher court.
Azam Khan faces disqualification as an MLA if he does not challenge the sentence immediately before the High Court. The Uttar Pradesh Assembly can also take a suo motu notice and disqualify him because the rule is clear that if a lawmaker is sentenced to more than two years in jail he or she loses his legislative membership.
Joint Director, Prosecution, SP Pandey confirmed that Azam Khan may lose his MLA status as the imprisonment is longer than two years.
Azam Khan has been convicted for a hate speech against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the then Rampur District Magistrate, Aunjaneya Kumar Singh, during an election rally in 2019. A case was registered against him at Milak Kotwali in Rampur on April 9, 2019, under sections 153a (promoting enmity between two groups), 505-1 (statement conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code along with Section 125 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The Samajwadi Party leader had accused the prime minister of creating an atmosphere in the country in which Muslims found it difficult to live.
Azam Khan is seen as the number two leader in Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, with a strong following in Rampur and other parts of western Uttar Pradesh. He was charged in over 90 cases, including extortion, criminal conspiracy and theft. Khan was arrested in 2020 and was in jail for 27 months before being released on bail.
“The Uttar Pradesh government is relentlessly registering cases against me to ensure I stay in prison,” Khan had said when he was released from Sitapur jail on bail.
Police had lodged an FIR against Azam Khan and his son, Abdullah Azam, and four others under sections 409, 120b (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC along with Section 2 of Damage to Public Property Act on the complaint of missing machinery at Rampur's municipal corporation.
Azam Khan's conviction comes a week after the Supreme Court asked the Centre and the Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments to act tough on hate speeches, warning that any delay in taking action would invite the court's contempt