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Azam, wife, son get 7-yr jail term in fake birth certificate case
It is alleged that Khan and his wife helped their son obtain two fake birth certificates - one from Lucknow and another from Rampur
LUCKNOW Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, his wife Tazeen Fatima and son Abdullah Azam were sent to jail on Wednesday, after a special MP/MLA court in Rampur convicted them in a 2019 fake birth certificate case and awarded a seven-year term.
The trio was held inside the courtroom in judicial custody for a few hours before being taken to the Rampur district jail in a police jeep, said Arun Parkash Saxena, a former district government counsel, who represented the prosecution in the case.
He said the trio had been convicted under sections 420 (fraud), 467 (forging documents), 468 (using forged documents for cheating), 471 (using forged documents as genuine) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
The FIR in the case was lodged by BJP MLA Akash Saxena at the Ganj police station in Rampur on January 3, 2019. It was alleged that Khan and his wife helped their son obtain two fake birth certificates - one from Lucknow and another from Rampur, said Parkash.
According to the charge sheet, in the certificate issued by the Rampur municipality, Abdullah Azam’s date of birth was mentioned as January 1, 1993. The other certificate showed he was born in Lucknow on September 30, 1990. The details of first birth certificate matched his high school certificate and M Tech degree certificate.
He said the complainant had alleged that the second birth certificate issued from the Lucknow Municipal Corporation was used by Abdullah Azam in contesting assembly election from Suar assembly constituency in 2017 when he had not completed minimum 25 years age criteria to contest the polls.
Abdullah Azam had lost his Vidhan Sabha membership on the same ground after his closest rival Nawab Kazim Ali Khan alias Naved Miya challenged the genuineness of the birth certificate in high court.
Prosecution officer Amarnath Tiwari said the court held all three former lawmakers guilty and sentenced them to seven years’ prison each. He said 15 witnesses and 70 documentary evidences were presented before the court and these led to the conviction of Khans. As many as 19 witnesses appeared for the defence.
“This is the triumph of justice. I will continue this fight for truth and justice in future as well,” said BJP lawmaker Akash Saxena.
Samajwadi Party veteran Azam Khan said his lawyers would decide if they wanted to appeal against the Rampur court’s verdict.
“My lawyers would decide,” he said before being taken to jail along with his wife and son.
Pressed further for his comments, Khan said, “The verdict was delivered today, but on your local channels, news about my conviction and the period of that conviction had started being aired since yesterday. What more can I say at this moment?”
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