The Allahabad High Court on Thursday granted bail to senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan and his son, former MLA Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan, in a case involving alleged forgery of documents and possession of two PAN cards with different dates of birth.
Justice Samit Gopal allowed their applications seeking suspension of sentence, providing relief to the former Uttar Pradesh minister and his son. However, the court declined to stay their convictions, which remain in force pending further proceedings.
Following the order, the father-son duo is likely to walk out of jail, subject to the completion of necessary legal formalities and any other pending custody requirements.
๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐
The High Court had reserved its judgment on October 15 after hearing arguments from both sides.
Senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and N I Jafri, along with advocate Shashwat Anand, represented Azam Khan and Abdullah Azam Khan.
The Uttar Pradesh government was represented by senior advocate Anoop Trivedi and advocate Paritosh Kumar Malviya.
The two had approached the High Court through criminal revision petitions challenging their conviction and sentence in the dual PAN card case.
While allowing suspension of their sentences, the court did not grant their request to stay the conviction itself, meaning the finding of guilt continues to stand unless overturned in subsequent proceedings.
๐ฅ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐๐ผ
In November last year, an additional chief judicial magistrate's court in Rampur convicted Azam Khan and his son on charges including forgery, cheating, using forged documents and criminal conspiracy.
The prosecution case originated from a First Information Report lodged in 2019 by BJP leader Akash Saxena, who is now an MLA.
Saxena alleged that Abdullah Azam possessed two Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards carrying different dates of birth and had used them to obtain undue benefits.
According to the prosecution, Abdullah initially obtained a PAN card from the Income Tax Department recording his date of birth as January 1, 1993.
The date matched his school and high school certificates, and the PAN card was used for operating a bank account and filing income tax returns.
๐๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐น๐น๐
The prosecution alleged that Abdullah subsequently altered documents to establish an earlier date of birth while preparing to contest the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Under the law, a candidate must be at least 25 years old to contest an Assembly election.
According to the allegations, Abdullah's second PAN card recorded his date of birth as September 30, 1990, making him eligible to contest the polls.
The prosecution claimed that he changed the PAN details and altered his bank passbook before submitting a forged copy of the document with his election nomination papers.
Investigators alleged that the changes were made in conspiracy with his father, Azam Khan.
The prosecution further claimed that the bank account mentioned in Abdullah's nomination documents was neither linked to nor operated using the second PAN card.
๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด
The High Court's order provides relief from imprisonment during the pendency of the criminal revision proceedings but does not amount to an acquittal.
The distinction between suspension of sentence and stay of conviction is significant because the latter can have consequences for eligibility to hold public office.
With the court declining to stay their convictions, Azam Khan and Abdullah Azam Khan will have to pursue their legal challenge to the Rampur court's findings.
The case remains pending before the High Court, which will examine their challenge to the conviction and sentence in subsequent proceedings.