Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan on Friday was received a breather after a magistrate court in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow acquitted the former MP on charges of defaming the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The verdict was passed by Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division) Alok Kumar, who cited lack of concrete evidence against Khan in the case.
Khan welcomed the verdict and thanked the judge. "This is a very honest verdict. I thank the judge. We have hopes left only from the court. This will boost the confidence of the weak... There are several cases lodged against my wife and other family members," the Samajwadi Party leader told reporters.
A first information report (FIR) was registered at the Hazratganj Police Station in Lucknow against Khan in February 2019 in which it was claimed that the former Uttar Pradesh minister used his official letterhead and official seal to defame the RSS and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) when the Samajwadi Party was in power in the state in 2014. The complaint was filed by social activist Zameer Naqbi.
In his complaint, Naqbi also alleged that Khan's letterhead also had derogatory remarks against Shia cleric Maulana Sayyed Kalbe Jawwad Naqbi. Acting on Naqbi's complaint, the police had booked former Lok Sabha MP under Sections 500 (Defamation) and 505 (Statements conducing public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Meanwhile, in another development, Khan met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow. He later said that his meeting was intended to convey a message of resilience and the need for justice and political change in Uttar Pradesh.
"The real intent of our meeting was to show that despite the oppression and historic injustice we faced, there still exist people whose endurance is stronger than stone or mountain," he told reporters after the meeting.
