Samajwadi party (SP) leader Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Azam were sentenced to seven years of imprisonment by a Special MP-MLA Magistrate Court in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur in the dual PAN Card case on Monday.
The case was filed against Khan and his son by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Akash Saxena in December 2019 at the Civil Lines Police Station in Rampur. In his complaint, Saxena alleged that the two had dual PAN Cards with different date of births (DoBs).
Khan and his son, Saxena alleged, had obtained the two PAN Cards using forged documents and were using them for banking transactions and income tax details.
The development comes after Khan, who is facing charges in more than 100 cases, was released on bail from the Rampur jail in September this year after being imprisoned for approximately 23 months. Recently, he was also acquitted in a case over allegedly misusing his official government letterhead and seal to make defamatory remarks against the BJP and its ideological mentor the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The alleged incident had taken place when Khan was a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government in 2014. However, a Lucknow court dismissed the case, citing lack of evidence against the Samajwadi Party leader.
"After considering all aspects, the court is of the opinion that the charges against accused Azam Khan have not been proven beyond doubt. Hence, he deserves to be acquitted," the court said in its order.
Meanwhile, after coming out of the jail, Khan has been trying to remain active in the state politics. Earlier this month, he also met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and described his relationship with the former UP chief minister as familial bond.
He also criticised the BJP government in the state and said that the law and order has completely collapsed in UP. "Law and order se 'law' gayab hai, yahan sirf 'order' chal raha hai (In law and order, the 'law' has gone missing, only order remains)," he told news agency PTI on November 6.
