Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court on Thursday refused to stay the conviction of Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan, son of senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, in connection with a criminal case registered against him in 2008, where he was awarded two years’ sentence by Moradabad court, which led to his disqualification as MLA from UP assembly.
Rejecting the application of Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan, Justice Rajiv Gupta observed, “In fact, the applicant is trying to seek stay on his conviction on absolutely non-existent grounds. It is well settled principle of law that stay of conviction is not a rule but an exception to be resorted to in rare cases. Disqualification is not limited only to MPs/MLAs.
Moreover, as many as 46 criminal cases are pending against the applicant. It is now need of the hour to purify politics. Representatives of people should be men of clear antecedents.
“In the backdrop of the said circumstances, refusal to stay the conviction would not, in any way, result in injustice to the applicant.
The order under challenge passed by the Moradabad court is just proper and legal and do not call for any interference,” said the judge.
A criminal case was registered in 2008 against Abdullah Azam Khan and his father at police station – Chhajlet of Moradabad under Sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
It is alleged that they had blocked traffic after their vehicle was stopped by the police for checking in Moradabad. The additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) on February 13, 2023 sentenced Azam Khan and his son Abdullah to two years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 each. Later, they were granted bail after submitting the required surety. Two days later, on February 15, 2023, the conviction and sentence, Samajwadi Party MLA Abdullah Azam Khan was disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly in this 15-year-old case.
Rejecting the application of Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan, Justice Rajiv Gupta observed, “In fact, the applicant is trying to seek stay on his conviction on absolutely non-existent grounds. It is well settled principle of law that stay of conviction is not a rule but an exception to be resorted to in rare cases. Disqualification is not limited only to MPs/MLAs.
Moreover, as many as 46 criminal cases are pending against the applicant. It is now need of the hour to purify politics. Representatives of people should be men of clear antecedents.
“In the backdrop of the said circumstances, refusal to stay the conviction would not, in any way, result in injustice to the applicant.
The order under challenge passed by the Moradabad court is just proper and legal and do not call for any interference,” said the judge.
A criminal case was registered in 2008 against Abdullah Azam Khan and his father at police station – Chhajlet of Moradabad under Sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
It is alleged that they had blocked traffic after their vehicle was stopped by the police for checking in Moradabad. The additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) on February 13, 2023 sentenced Azam Khan and his son Abdullah to two years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 each. Later, they were granted bail after submitting the required surety. Two days later, on February 15, 2023, the conviction and sentence, Samajwadi Party MLA Abdullah Azam Khan was disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly in this 15-year-old case.