Azam Khan loses his UP assembly seat in wake of hate speech 3-year jail sentence

The case of hate speech was registered against Samajwadi Party's Azam Khan in April 2019.

Pic Credit: File Photo

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Secretariat on Friday announced the disqualification of Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan from the House, a day after a court sentenced him to three years in jail in a hate speech case. Principal Secretary of the UP Legislative Assembly, Pradeep Dubey told that the assembly secretariat has declared the Rampur Sadar Assembly seat as vacant. "Since Azam Khan has been sentenced to 3 years jail term he is now disqualified from both the houses. And now the Rampur Sadar Assembly seat is vacant, so lotus will bloom whenever the election will be contested," said KP Maurya (UP Deputy CM).

The Representation of the People Act says that anyone sentenced to imprisonment of two years or more shall be disqualified "from the date of such conviction" and remain disqualified for another six years after serving time in jail. The case of hate speech was registered against Azam Khan in April 2019 for levelling serious allegations against administrative officials posted in Rampur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during an election meeting.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Khan was booked for making inflammatory speeches while addressing a public meeting in Khatanagaria village of the Milak Kotwali area. A video of Khan`s statement also surfaced on social media. Khan was released from jail earlier this year after the Supreme Court granted him an interim bail in a cheating case. He spent nearly two years in jail. The SP leader faces nearly 90 cases, including that of corruption and theft.

He had won the Rampur Sadar Assembly seat in the last UP Assembly polls for a record 10th time. After becoming an MLA, he resigned from the Lok Sabha. In June this year, BJP`s Ghanshyam Lodhi wrested the Rampur parliamentary seat from the Samajwadi Party, defeating his nearest rival by over 42,000 votes in a bypoll.