Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly on Friday declared the Rampur seat, held by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, vacant, indicating that he was disqualified from the House after being convicted in a 2019 hate speech case a day ago.
The MP/MLA court in Rampur on Thursday found Khan guilty of hate speech during the 2019 general election campaign, sentenced him to three years in jail and fined him ₹25,000 in connection with the matter. He was, however, granted bail later and given seven days to file an appeal against the verdict.
A senior officer of the state assembly said Khan automatically stood disqualified when his prison sentence exceeded two years. “A vacancy has been declared by the UP Vidhan Sabha Secretariat consequent upon the disqualification due to the judgment passed by the court,” principal secretary of the UP legislative assembly Pradeep Dubey told news agency PTI.
“We do not disqualify (a sitting member), we only declare vacancy (of the respective seat). Disqualification had already been done by the court order,” he added.
As per a 2013 Supreme Court judgment, members of Parliament and state assemblies will be immediately disqualified if convicted in a criminal case and sentenced to more than two years in jail. The court passed the order while striking down Section 8 (4) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which protected members from disqualification if they appealed before a higher court within three months.
{{/usCountry}}As per a 2013 Supreme Court judgment, members of Parliament and state assemblies will be immediately disqualified if convicted in a criminal case and sentenced to more than two years in jail. The court passed the order while striking down Section 8 (4) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which protected members from disqualification if they appealed before a higher court within three months.
{{/usCountry}}HT tried to reach Khan for a comment but couldn’t get a response till the time of going to print. The SP, however, called the move an “evidence of dictatorship”.
“The Vidhan Sabha speaker Satish Mahana who is an eight-time MLA has stooped under pressure. He, in a hurry took the decision of cancelling the membership of the ten-time MLA Azam Khan saheb. This is evidence of dictatorship in the so-called democracy that (he) was not given time for an appeal. Now one can’t get justice in the country”, said a senior Samajwadi Party leader and former UP minister IP Singh in a tweet in Hindi.
Khan is a 10-time MLA from Rampur. This is the first time the senior leader has been convicted.
Professor SK Dwivedi, former head of department, political science Lucknow University said Azam Khan is unlikely to get relief from a higher court. The state assembly declares a vacancy if any leader is disqualified following conviction and legal experts will decide about the future course of action, if his conviction is reversed by higher court, he added.
On April 7, 2019, Khan addressed a rally in the Milak area of Rampur where he used harsh words against then Rampur district magistrate Aunjaneya Kumar Singh, chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress candidate Sanjay Kapoor.
On April 9, a first information report (FIR) was lodged against him at the Milak Kotwali police station in Rampur by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Akash Saxena for the provocative speech. The FIR was lodged under sections 153a (promoting enmity between two groups) and 505-1 (statement conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code, along with section 125 of the Representation of the People Act 1951.
Khan eventually won the election from Rampur.
He vacated his Lok Sabha seat after being elected to the state assembly in March 2022. He won the assembly election from Rampur while being lodged in Sitapur prison.
Khan has secured bail in 87 cases except one registered at Milak Kotwali police station, Rampur. This is the first case in which he has been convicted.