Relief for Azam Khan's wife, son as SC rejects UP govt plea against bail

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain an appeal by the Uttar Pradesh government challenging the Allahabad High Court, which granted bail to his wife and son, in a case related to fraudulent allocation of public land.

A bench of Chief Justice S.A. Bobde told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the UP government, the High Court order is a good order and queried, what is wrong with it? "The judgement is correct", said the Chief Justice.

Mehta insisted that there are many cases registered Khan for land grabbing and other offences. The bench replied it could be the case that father may have done something wrong, but it is not correct to blame his son. Mehta replied that both son and wife are beneficiaries. The bench reiterated that the High Court judgement is good and it will dismiss the plea of the state government.

After a brief hearing in the matter, the bench, also comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian said: "we are dismissing the special leave petition." Mehta requested the top court to make an observation in the order that this should not affect the trial against the accused.

On October 13, the High Court had granted bail to Khan's wife Tazeen Fatma and their son Abdullah Azam Khan, a former MLA. The UP police have registered a case against them for allegedly fraudulent allotment of a plot of land for Hotel Quality Bar in 2014.

Khan's wife had argued in the High Court that she took the property on rent in a bonafide belief that it belonged to the Zila Sahkari Vikas Sangh, Rampur. She informed the court that she was unaware that the property actually belonged to the district administration and added that the case has been foisted on them due to political rivalry.