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SC denies relief to SP leader Abdullah Azam Khan in alleged forgery case
Abdullah’s lawyer urged SC that till the report on his age arrives, the proceedings against him for alleged forgery of birth certificate should not be entertained
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay a pending criminal case against Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan for allegedly forging his birth certificate, and asked the former Uttar Pradesh legislator to await a report on his claim of juvenility ordered last month by the top court.
The court made the remarks while considering an application by SP leader Mohammad Azam Khan’s son in a case when an Uttar Pradesh court in February this year convicted him for taking part in a dharna and blocking traffic in 2008. He was sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment, leading to his disqualification from the Suar assembly seat.
After the Allahabad high court refused to stay the conviction in April, he approached the top court claiming that he was a juvenile at the time of the crime. To test his claim, the top court on September 26 directed the Moradabad district judge to probe his real age under the Juvenile Justice Act and submit a report to the court.
On Wednesday, Abdullah’s lawyer and senior advocate Kapil Sibal urged the apex court that till the report on his age arrives, the proceedings against him for alleged forgery of birth certificate should not be entertained.
Turning down the demand, a bench of justices MM Sundresh and PK Mishra said, “We find no reason to grant any interim order at this stage. Post the special leave petition for hearing as per the earlier order after the report (on juvenility claim) is received form the trial court.”
Sibal, who was assisted by advocate Nizam Pasha, submitted that the state could be permitted to take different stands in two cases. In the present case where he stood convicted, the UP government argued that he was not a minor and disputed a birth certificate showing his date of birth as 1 January 1993. Going by this, he was only 15 at the time of the incident.
At the same time, Sibal said that on grounds of being underage, his earlier election from Suar assembly seat was set aside in an election petition and he is facing criminal charges for forging his birth certificate.
“Heavens will not fall if the conviction order is stayed. Can the state having taken one stance be allowed to take a different stance in a separate proceeding against me? It will result in two judgments over my date of birth,” Sibal said on behalf of Abdullah.
Appearing for the UP government, additional solicitor general (ASG) KM Nataraj objected to the application filed by the petitioner and said that he should not be allowed to take any benefit till the report on his juvenility claim is available.
Sibal told the court that his client is stuck with the case presenting a situation where the law is coming in the way of justice.
A trial court in UP on February 13 convicted the petitioner for using criminal force to deter a public servant from performing his duties, which is punishable under Section 353 of the Indian Penal Code. The UP assembly secretariat disqualified him and declared the Suar seat vacant due to the 2-year imprisonment sentence imposed on him.
The HC order of April 13 noted that the former MLA is seeking a stay on conviction on “absolutely non-existent” grounds. The HC said that the ex-MLA faces 46 criminal charges and the need to have purity in politics demands that public representatives should be “men of clear antecedents”. Thus, the HC concluded, “refusal to stay the conviction would not, in any way, result in injustice to the applicant.”
