HC rejects 82 pleas seeking quashing of charges against Azam Khan

Azam, the chancellor of the varsity, has been booked and chargesheeted in all the 27 cases and in some of cases, former Rajya Sabha member and Azam’s wife Tanzeen Fatima and MLA son Abdullah Azam Khan are also accused and chargesheeted. All 27 cases were lodged in 2019.

Azam Khan

The Allahabad High Court on Friday dismissed 82 petitions filed by office-bearers of the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, headed by former minister Azam Khan, seeking quashing of chargesheets in 27 cases lodged for alleged land grabbing to expand the premises of the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur.

The petitions were filed by seven office-bearers of the trust and the university, including former circle officer Aaley Hasan, who was the chief security officer of the varsity. Azam, the chancellor of the varsity, has been booked and chargesheeted in all the 27 cases and in some of cases, former Rajya Sabha member and Azam’s wife Tanzeen Fatima and MLA son Abdullah Azam Khan are also accused and chargesheeted. All 27 cases were lodged in 2019.

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The cases were lodged at Azeem Nagar police station on the complaints of local farmers who had alleged that they were threatened and illegally detained by Aaley Hasan and were forced to part with their land. The farmers had also alleged that Azam Khan and Hasan had threatened to implicate them in fake cases if they refused to give their land to the varsity for its expansion.

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“They did not execute the sale deeds in favour of the university in spite of it, but former minister Azam Khan and former CO (City) Aaley Hasan Khan forcibly took possession of their lands and included it in the campus of the University,” reads the order.

Dismissing the petitions, Justice Samit Gopal said, “Thus, it is trite law that at the stage of quashing only the material of the prosecution has to be seen and the court cannot delve into the defence of the accused and then proceed to examine the matter on its merit by weighing the evidence so produced.”

Asad Rehman

Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More

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