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Azam Khan jailed for hate speech against Yogi Adityanath: 10 facts

October 27, 2022
Bharat Times

Azam Khan has about 90 cases including corruption and theft.

Lucknow:
A court today sentenced Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan to three years in prison for hate speech targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in 2019.

Following are the 10 biggest developments in this story:

  1. Azam Khan, 74, was given a week’s time to appeal against the bail and sentence. The Samajwadi Party MLA said, “I have not lost faith. All doors are not closed – I will appeal in the High Court.”

  2. Azam Khan faces disqualification as an MLA if he does not immediately challenge the sentence before the High Court. The Uttar Pradesh Assembly can also move swiftly to disqualify him, as is the rule when any MLA is sentenced to more than two years in prison.

  3. Earlier today, Azam Khan was convicted for provocative speeches against PM Modi, Yogi Adityanath and then District Magistrate IAS officer Anjaneya Kumar Singh during the general election campaign in 2019. He was also fined Rs 25,000 by the court in Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur. ,

  4. The socialist leader had accused the Prime Minister of creating such an environment in the country in which it became difficult for Muslims to live.

  5. Azam Khan, seen as the number two leader in Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, has strong followers in Rampur and other parts of western Uttar Pradesh.

  6. The veteran leader was released from jail in May after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail.

  7. He was in jail for about two years in a land grab case.

  8. To get bail, Azam Khan argued that the Uttar Pradesh government is continuously registering cases against him to ensure that he remains in jail.

  9. Since the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, the socialist leader has 87 cases ranging from corruption and theft to land grabbing.

  10. A week after Azam Khan was convicted, the Supreme Court asked the Center and the Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments to take strict action on hate speeches, warning that any delay in taking action would amount to contempt of court. will invite.