Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has granted relief to senior Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Azam by suspending their sentences in a case involving possession of two PAN cards and granting them bail.
A single-judge bench of Justice Samit Gopal passed the order after reserving its verdict following arguments from both sides. However, the court rejected their plea for a stay on their conviction.
Azam Khan and Abdullah had filed criminal revision petitions challenging their conviction and sentences awarded by the trial court. They sought interim relief, including suspension of their sentences and bail, pending the final disposal of their petitions.
Legal Arguments And Allegations
Senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and N.I. Jafri, along with advocate Shashwat Anand, represented Azam Khan and his son. The state government was represented by senior advocate and Additional Advocate General Anoop Trivedi.
According to the prosecution, the two were accused of obtaining and using separate PAN cards bearing different dates of birth. They were also accused of allegedly using the disputed PAN cards in election nomination papers.
On October 14, the High Court had directed that their cases be tagged with a criminal revision petition in the matter of Dr Tanzeem Fatima versus the State of Uttar Pradesh.
ED Attaches Jauhar University Properties Worth Rs 426.46 Crore
In a separate development, the Enforcement Directorate’s Lucknow zonal office on Wednesday attached land and buildings belonging to Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The attached properties have an estimated current market value of around Rs 1,170 crore, while Rs 426.46 crore was spent on constructing the buildings. A substantial portion of the construction expenditure allegedly came from government funds.
The action followed an investigation spanning nearly seven years into the affairs of the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, established by Azam Khan, who is also the university’s chancellor.
Land Occupation Allegations Under Investigation
The ED initiated its probe on the basis of 26 FIRs registered at the Azeem Nagar police station in Rampur. The cases included allegations that agricultural land belonging to farmers had been forcibly occupied for the university.
According to a report by the Rampur district administration, 45 plots of enemy property, measuring around 34 acres in Singhan Khera village, had also been illegally occupied. The occupation allegedly continued even after the custodian cancelled the lease agreement. The Custodian of Enemy Property for India, under the Union Home Ministry, has since taken possession of the land.
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ED Probes Alleged Diversion Of Funds
During its investigation, the ED allegedly found that funds allocated for public works were diverted to the university and that government-funded work was carried out on its private premises.
The agency also alleged that contractors awarded government projects routed money to the trust as donations. The findings form part of the money laundering investigation into the financial dealings of the trust and the university.
