SC declines to entertain Azam Khan’ plea seeking to transfer cases out of UP

The Supreme Court turned down Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan’s request to transfer some charges against him from Uttar Pradesh to another state on Wednesday.

The Supreme Court urged Azam Khan to contact the appropriate High Court and that his plea be heard as soon as possible. The SP leader is presently facing over 90 criminal charges, including hate speech, corruption, and embezzlement.

The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Secretariat confirmed Khan’s exclusion from the House earlier this month, after a court sentenced him to three years in prison in a hate speech case.

Azam Khan was charged with hate speech in April 2019 after making significant claims during an election gathering against administrative employees deployed in Rampur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Khan was arrested for making provocative remarks during a public meeting in Khatanagaria village, Milak Kotwali.

A video of Khan’s remark has also gone viral on social media. Khan was freed from prison earlier this year after the Supreme Court granted him temporary bail in connection with a cheating case. He was imprisoned for nearly two years.

In the most recent UP Assembly elections, he won the Rampur Sadar Assembly seat for the tenth time.

He resigned from the Lok Sabha after becoming an MLA. Ghanshyam Lodhi of the BJP won the Rampur parliamentary seat from the Samajwadi Party in a bypoll in June, defeating his nearest challenger by over 42,000 votes.