Rampur: Less than two months after his release from Sitapur jail, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mohammed Azam Khan returned to prison on Monday after being convicted and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment in a 2019 case related to obtaining two PAN cards using different dates of birth. The special MP-MLA court in Rampur also sentenced his son, Abdullah Azam, to seven years’ imprisonment in the same case.
Following the verdict, both father and son were taken under heavy security from the Rampur court to the district jail. While being escorted to prison, the 77-year-old veteran SP leader remarked, “What is there to say now? It is the court’s decision.” On the sentence awarded to him and his son, he added, “It is fine. If they have considered me guilty, they have given the punishment.”
Delivering the verdict, Special Magistrate Shobhit Bansal found both father and son guilty after examining documentary evidence and witness testimonies, according to Prosecution Officer Rakesh Kumar Maurya, who, along with advocate Swadesh Sharma, represented the prosecution.
Azam Khan had been released from Sitapur jail on September 23 after serving 23 months. Prior to this, he had spent 27 months in prison. The seven-year term handed down by the court has been adjusted to account for the days already served in judicial custody in this case. Maurya also stated that the prosecution would review the judgment and may consider filing an appeal if it deems the punishment inadequate.
The case, lodged in 2019 at Rampur’s Civil Lines police station by BJP leader Akash Saxena, cited violations of IPC sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (using forged documents), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy). The prosecution alleged that Abdullah had obtained a PAN card from the Income Tax Department with January 1, 1993, as his date of birth, which matched the date in his school and high school certificates and the records of his State Bank of India account. The court held that Abdullah had procured the forged PAN card in conspiracy with his father and submitted it in official records.
Maurya explained that the court awarded varying prison terms under different IPC sections. For cheating under Section 420, both father and son received three years’ simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000, with an additional three months if the fine was not paid. Under Section 467, they were sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment and a Rs 10,000 fine, with an additional six months’ imprisonment for non-payment. For offences under Section 468, they received three years’ simple imprisonment and a Rs 10,000 fine, with an additional three months if the fine was not paid. Section 471 carried a two-year simple imprisonment term and a Rs 10,000 fine, while Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) resulted in one year of simple imprisonment and a Rs 10,000 fine, with an additional month in case of default. Maurya noted that the seven-year sentence was awarded under Section 467 IPC, which carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment, and that the magistrate had exercised his authority to impose the maximum term permissible within his jurisdiction.
Azam Khan faces a total of 84 cases, including charges related to land grab, graft, criminal intimidation, goat theft, and cheating. This is the fourth case in which he has been convicted. He has been acquitted in four cases, while the remaining cases are still pending.
With PTI inputs