LUCKNOW: In a major development on Friday, senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and party MLA from Rampur, Mohammad Azam Khan was disqualified from the UP assembly by the speaker. The disqualification came a day after Khan was convicted and sentenced to three-year imprisonment by Rampur MP/MLAs court in a case of hate speech registered against him in April 2019.
The 74-year-old Khan's disqualification will necessitate a by-poll to the Rampur assembly constituency. Azam Khan won the seat in 2022.
The case against Khan was registered in Rampur in April 2019. He has been convicted under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 153 A (promoting enmity between two groups), 505 (statement conducing to public mischief) and Section 125 of the Representation of People Act 1951. An FIR was lodged against him after the returning officer took cognizance of the matter based on a complaint lodged against Khan.
Azam Khan was convicted by the court for using objectionable language against persons holding prominent constitutional positions including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the then Rampur DM Anjaneya Kumar Singh at a public rally during 2019 general elections.
Getting into action immediately in compliance with the 2013 order of the Supreme Court of India, Principal Secretary, Vidhan Sabha, Pradeep Dubey initiated the proceedings of Azam Khan’s disqualification from the Assembly issuing a notification citing the MP/MLAs court order. Khan’s disqualification was subsequently communicated to the Election Commission of India.
Notably, the Supreme Court of India had stated in its order dated July 10, 2013, that if a sitting MP/MLA was convicted of an offence (not only charged) then he/she would be disqualified immediately and the seat would be declared as vacant without giving three months’ time to the convict for appeal as was the case before.
The Supreme Court delivered the order striking down Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act (RPA) as unconstitutional as it allowed convicted lawmakers to avail of a three-month period for filing appeal to the higher court to get a stay. The apex court had delivered the judgement following writ petitions filed by advocate Lily Thomas and Lok Prahari, through its General Secretary SN Shukla, the retired IAS officer.
The decision to disqualify Azam Khan was taken immediately after the state government, through UP chief secretary DS Mishra, made a formal communication to the Vidhan Sabha informing it about the SP leader’s conviction, highly placed sources said.
Khan, who faces three years of imprisonment, will not be able to contest any election for a period of nine years. In fact, Section 8 of the RPA deals with disqualification of a lawmaker for six years since his release from jail after being convicted in case of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for varying terms.
According to legal experts, if Azam Khan gets a stay order from the higher court against his conviction, his disqualification would not be revoked but he would be able to contest the by-election.