SP leader Azam Khan was sentenced to three years in jail by a court in Rampur, UP, after being convicted in a ‘hate speech’ case, after which his assembly membership was canceled by the Assembly Secretariat. On Khan’s petition against this, the Supreme Court had sought answers from the UP government and the Election Commission.
New Delhi/Lucknow: On the directions of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission has decided not to issue the notification to be issued on November 10 for the Rampur Assembly by-election till further orders.
State Chief Electoral Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla said in a statement issued on Wednesday that in view of the direction given by the Supreme Court in the hearing in the case of Mohammad Azam Khan vs Election Commission, the Commission has issued a notification for the Rampur assembly by-election to be published on November 10. It has been decided not to issue till further orders.
Significantly, the Supreme Court had directed the Commission not to issue notification for the by-elections to Rampur Sadar seat till November 10.
A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud also criticized Khan’s (expedited) motion of disqualification. “Look at the promptness with which you (assembly) proceeded,” the bench said.
The bench also included Justice Hima Kohli and Justice JB Pardiwala. Referring to some other matters pointed out by senior advocate P. Chidambaram, appearing for Khan, the bench said, “You cannot selectively target people.”
The bench favored giving opportunity to Khan to seek legal remedies. Chidambaram had mentioned other cases in which some MPs/MLAs were disqualified of late.
Rejecting the strong opposition of the Election Commission, the bench said that a gazette notification declaring the election schedule can be issued on or after November 11, depending on the outcome of Khan’s application for stay of conviction.
The bench said that the MLA should have been given an opportunity to avail the legal remedy of appeal to stay the conviction to defend himself from disqualification.
Chidambaram said on October 27, the very next day after Khan was convicted in the case, his seat was declared vacant by the state assembly. He alleged that such prompt action was “unprecedented” and the move was “politically motivated”.
Chidambaram said Khan has filed an appeal against the conviction in which he has been granted interim bail and the sessions court has decided to consider the application for hearing on November 15.
Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for the commission, submitted that disqualification on conviction in a criminal case is automatic and Khan cannot be relieved from it as the process has been finalized after a decision to this effect is taken by the assembly.
During the hearing, the bench suggested to the commission that the issuance of gazette notification for the election schedule be deferred for 76 hours to give Khan an opportunity to stay his sentence.
The commission initially objected to the suggestion, saying that Khan could file his nomination for the by-election if the appellate court stayed the conviction.
The CJI said, ‘Give him (Khan) proper time. Postpone it for three days, otherwise you are doing it selectively on the basis of political affiliation of the convict.
It is to be known that on November 7, the Supreme Court had sought answers from the Uttar Pradesh government and the Election Commission of India on the petition of SP leader Azam Khan against his disqualification for the membership of the state assembly.
The court had said, ‘What was the hurry to disqualify him? You should have at least given them some time.
It is worth noting that on October 27, the MP/MLA court of Rampur in Uttar Pradesh convicted SP leader and MLA Azam Khan for making provocative speeches and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment. After that Azam Khan’s membership of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly was cancelled.
Inciting speech on Azam Khan for using derogatory language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and calling senior officials of the district administration good and bad while addressing a public meeting in Khatanagaria village of Milak Kotwali area during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. A case was registered for giving The video of this statement of Khan also went viral.
A special MP/MLA court has convicted Azam Khan for making inflammatory speeches under sections 153-A (provoking religious feelings), 505-A (causing feelings of enmity, hatred or enmity between different communities) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He was convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment under section 125 (promoting enmity between different classes in connection with election) of the Representation of the People Act.
Significantly, since the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, 87 cases ranging from theft to corruption were registered against Azam Khan.
He was in jail for nearly two years in a land grabbing case. In May this year, he was released from jail after getting interim bail from the Supreme Court.
(with input from news agency language)
read this also…
Categories: India, Politics