Azam Khan back in jail: SP leader, son get 7-year jail term in dual PAN card forgery case

On Monday morning, the court held Azam and his son guilty after which they were taken into custody. “Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Shobit Bansal has convicted Azam Khan and his son to seven years imprisonment and also imposed fine on them. They have been taken into custody. Their lawyer has moved an application asking that Azam Khan be kept in Rampur jail. The court will likely pass an order in this regard on Tuesday,” said Joint Director, Prosecution (Rampur), Rohtash Kumar Pandey.

The duo have been convicted under IPC sections 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 420 (cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy), said Pandey. Nine prosecution and 18 defence witnesses were examined by the court.

Azam’s lawyer Nasir Sultan said they would file an appeal against the judgment.

According to the prosecution, the case stems from an FIR lodged on December 6, 2019, by Akash Saxena — the complainant and now a sitting BJP MLA — at the Ganj police station, alleging that Abdullah had used two different PAN cards, bearing different dates of birth, and derived undue benefit from their use.

It was alleged that Abdullah had been using a PAN card that showed his date of birth as January 1, 1993, which corresponded with his educational high school records. The same PAN card was used to open and operate a bank account and file his income tax returns.

However, while contesting the Assembly elections from Suar constituency as an SP candidate in 2017, it was alleged that Abdullah altered his bank passbook and changed the PAN number before submitting his nomination papers. He is alleged to have filed a forged copy of the passbook along with the nomination.

The second PAN recorded his date of birth as September 30, 1990, and was allegedly used to falsely project eligibility and obtain an unlawful advantage, said the prosecution. The prosecution alleged that Abdullah, acting in conspiracy with his father, furnished fabricated and false information and documents in the nomination papers to conceal his age-related disqualification for contesting the election.

The prosecution also stated that at the time of filing the nomination, the said bank account was neither linked to nor operated through the second PAN.

When contacted, BJP MLA Akash Saxena said the case is related to using two PAN cards for personal benefits.

Reacting to the conviction, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, in a post on X, wrote in Hindi: “Those who cross all limits of injustice and oppression in the arrogance of power eventually fall into the grip of nature’s verdict and meet a bad end. Everyone is watching everything.”

Cases against Azam Khan
On September 23 this year, Azam was released from Sitapur jail on bail after spending nearly two years in custody.

A 10-time MLA from Rampur Sadar and a former Cabinet minister, he is considered one of the SP’s prominent Muslim leaders and has long been a key figure in the party.

His legal troubles began with a hate speech case filed against him ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. UP Police records show that over 81 cases were filed against Azam after the BJP came to power in UP in 2017. 

Of these, around 70 cases were registered in 2019 alone, followed by six more in 2020. These cases cover a wide range of charges, including land grabbing, cheating, vandalism, trespass, hate speech and criminal intimidation. 

Including the current case, Azam has been convicted in seven cases — six in Rampur and one in Moradabad. He has filed appeals against the judgments. In addition, Khan has been acquitted in six other cases. However, the state government has challenged a few of these acquittals in higher courts, and the appeals remain pending.

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