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SP veteran Azam Khan freed after two years in jail
Azam Khan, former UP minister and SP member, was released on bail after nearly two years in jail. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav called it a moment of justice.
Lucknow: Samajwadi Party founding member and former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan was on Tuesday released on bail from Sitapur jail after spending close to two years behind bars, with party president Akhilesh Yadav saying the veteran leader has “finally got justice”.
Khan’s sons —Adeeb and Abdullah — along with several senior party leaders, including Moradabad lawmaker Ruchi Vira, and hundreds of his supporters and SP workers welcomed the 77-year-old former MP outside the jail, where he was languishing since October 2023. Khan’s release was delayed and he walked out of jail around 12.20 pm instead of the scheduled 7am.
The development comes days after the Allahabad high court on September 18 granted Khan bail in the Quality Bar land encroachment case in Rampur district. Khan was not initially named in the case, which pertained to the alleged illegal occupation of the bar premises in 2013. His name was added during reinvestigation nearly five years after the FIR was lodged in November 2019.
“I thank all those who prayed for me,” Khan told reporters in Bareilly while heading to his hometown Rampur.
He also dismissed speculations about his joining the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) led by former chief minister Mayawati. “Ask those who are making such claims,” Khan said.
Speaking to reporters in Lucknow, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav welcomed the court’s order, and vowed to withdraw all “false cases” against Khan if his party returned to power in Uttar Pradesh.
“We always had a firm belief that the court will do justice with Azam Khan Saheb. We hope that in times to come, local BJP MLA and one (retired) officer, who has been getting multiple extensions, will not do injustice again. It’s a moment of happiness for the party that Azam Khan Saheb has been released from jail,” Yadav said.
The former chief minister said Khan is not only a founder member of the SP, but has also played a key role in the country’s socialist movement. “All cases against him will be withdrawn if the Samajwadi Party forms a government in Uttar Pradesh,” Yadav added.
Senior SP leader and party national general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav also dismissed the buzz of Khan switching parties as “baseless rumours”. Talking to reporters in Etawah, Shivpal Yadav said: “The SP and its leadership have always stood by Khan sahab and will continue to do so… Azam Khan has been falsely implicated in many cases. We thank the honourable court for giving bail to him.”
Despite facing multiple cases over the years, Khan has been one of the most influential leaders in the western Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur district for decades, representing the Rampur assembly seat for 10 terms.
BJP’s Rampur MLA Akash Saxena, who has filed several cases against Khan, said his fight against injustice will continue. “We have always accorded the highest respect to the judiciary. Whether Azam Khan sahab remains in the SP or sides with the BSP, our fight against injustice would continue unabated,” Saxena was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Earlier, on September 16, Khan was acquitted by a special MP/MLA court in a 17-year-old case pertaining to road blockade and damage to public property.
On February 26, 2020, Khan, his wife Tazeen Fatima, and son Abdullah Azam surrendered before the Rampur police in a case involving a forged birth certificate for the son. The veteran leader was released on interim bail by the Supreme Court in May 2022 after spending 27 months in jail. He was re-incarcerated in October 2023, when Khan and his wife and son were sentenced to seven-year jail terms in the same case.
