New Delhi: Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, who has been jailed since 2020, was released on bail on Tuesday in one of the trials against him.
However, he is unlikely to be released on a new case filed by the police a few days ago. The Allahabad High Court granted Mr. Khan bail in a land grab case days after a harsh reprimand from the High Court.
Mr. Khan, a prominent Muslim face of the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party and one of its strongest leaders, was charged against him in a number of cases after the BJP came to power in UP.
He still managed to win the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Rampur and the 2022 state polls from prison.
Of the 88 cases registered against him in recent years, the 73-year-old was previously released on bail in 86 cases.
Although he posted bail in case 87 this Tuesday, UP police filed another case against him days ago. On Friday, the Supreme Court expressed displeasure at the delay in deciding Mr. Khan’s bail request in the land grab case, saying, “This is a farce of justice.
” Justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai noted that Mr. Khan was released on bail in 86 of the 87 cases and said they would hear the matter on Wednesday. “He (Khan) has been free on bail in all matters except one for so long, that is a farce of justice.
We say no more. We’ll hear it on Wednesday,” the court said. A day before the high court sentencing, the Allahabad High Court reserved its decision on Mr. Khan’s bail application in the case of appropriation of enemy property for his Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.
The High Court initially reserved its decision in the case on 4 December 2021, but the State Government later made an application, seeking permission to produce some new facts through new affidavits.
The FIR, in this case, was filed against Khan and others for the alleged appropriation of enemy property and embezzlement of hundreds of millions of public funds.
It was alleged in the FIR that an Imamuddin Qureshi went to Pakistan during partition and his land was registered as enemy property, but Mr. Khan in collusion with others seized the 13,842 hectares of property.
Earlier in February, the High Court denied Mr. Khan provisional bail for campaigning for the Uttar Pradesh elections and ordered him to go to the competent court for a speedy decision.
Mr. Khan’s guilty plea claimed that the state used all available means to deliberately delay proceedings to ensure he was jailed during the recent general election in Uttar Pradesh.