SC orders Moradabad District Court to investigate SP Leader Abdullah Azam Khan’s claim of youth

The son of Samajwadi Party (SP) politician Azam Khan, Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan, was convicted of a crime in 2008 that resulted in his disqualification as an MLA, and the Supreme Court on Tuesday requested that the Moradabad district court investigate his claim of juvenility.

The district judge was instructed to investigate Khan’s claim and make a determination in accordance with the guidelines established by the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act by a bench comprising Justices A S Bopanna and M M Sundresh.

 

The bench scheduled the case for hearing after the district judge submitted his or her report to the supreme court.

 

2008 saw the filing of a criminal complaint under sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 353 (assault or criminal force to prevent a public worker from doing his duties) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Abdullah Azam Khan and his father Azam Khan at the Chhajlet police station in Moradabad. They were accused of blocking traffic when the cops pulled over their car to inspect something.

 

Khan had petitioned the Supreme Court in opposition to an Allahabad High Court ruling from April 13 that refused to suspend his conviction.

 

A Moradabad court sentenced Abdullah Azam Khan to two years in prison in the case in February, disqualifying him from serving as an MLA in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.

 

The Uttar Pradesh government’s answer was requested by the top court on May 1 in response to a petition filed by Abdullah Azam Khan contesting the high court’s refusal to suspend his conviction in the case that dates back 15 years.

 

Following Khan’s disqualification, the top court made it clear that the election for the Suar Assembly seat, which was set for May 10, would depend on the decision of his case.

 

Shafeek Ahmed Ansari of the Apna Dal has won the Suar seat. Khan asserts that he was a minor at the time of the occurrence.

 

The high court had said in rejecting his motion that the petitioner was really attempting to get a stay of his conviction on completely fictitious grounds. A stay of conviction is an exception to the norm that should only be used in exceptional circumstances, according to a well-established legal concept.

 

The concept of disqualification is not exclusive to MPs and MLAs. Moreover, the petitioner is the subject of up to 46 active criminal prosecutions. Right now, having purity in politics is essential. Men with clear antecedents should represent the public, the court had said.

 

On February 13, the father-and-son team received a two-year jail term and a fine of Rs 3,000 apiece from the additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM).After then, bail was granted to them.

 

Abdullah Azam Khan was barred from serving in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly two days after his conviction and punishment.