News Analysis India

Tag: Azam Khan

  • Supreme Court stays takeover of land of Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan’s Jauhar University

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the takeover of the land of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur initiated by the Uttar Pradesh government for nonadherence to certain conditions on which the land for the institution was granted to a trust run by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan in 2005.

    A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and CT Ravikumar issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and others on the appeal filed against the Allahabad High Court order.

    The High Court had in September last year dismissed the petition filed by Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust seeking quashing of a report submitted by Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) in March 2020 on the constructions over the land as well as the order dated January 16, 2021, by Additional District Magistrate (Administration) Rampur for vesting of the land in the state.

    Both Azam Khan and his son Abdullah are currently lodged at Sitapur district jail and are facing several cases. Citing the SDM’s report, the high court had said a mosque was constructed over the land which was only for educational purposes, and thus, is a violation of the permission granted by the state government.

    The high court had said that no interference was required in the order passed by the ADM to initiate proceedings under Section 104/105 of the UP Revenue Code, 2006 for vesting of University’s land in UP Govt i.e. taking over the land given to the Trust.

    In 2005, the then Samajwadi Party government enacted the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University Act, paving the way for the creation of the university.

    Thereafter, the state government granted permission to the Trust to acquire 400 acres of land against the ceiling of 12.5 acres (5.0586 hectares) for the establishment of the University while imposing certain conditions, one of which was that the land will be used only for educational purposes.

    According to law, if such a condition is violated, the permission granted by the state government stands withdrawn.

  • Dissent gets shriller in SP, party leader quits of apathy to Muslims

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Amid the growing discontent among the Muslim leadership in the Samajwadi Party, the first Muslim leader Salman Javed Raeen tendered his resignation from the party in protest against the alleged apathy of the party leadership towards the Muslim community.

    While writing a letter to party leadership, Raeen flagged the guarded silence by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav by quoting the instances of Azam Khan who, he claimed, was sent to jail along with his family, Kairana MLA Nahid Hasan had been languishing in jail and Shahzil Islam, SP MLA from Bhojipura assembly segment in Bareilly district, booked for hate speech and his petrol pump was demolished.

    The SP office-bearer from Sultanpur further added that if a coward leader could not raise the voice in support of his party men, how could he be expected to raise people’s issues. Raeen is not the first person to express his discontent with the attitude of SP chef towards Muslims, earlier, SP stalwart and party’s Rampur MLA Azam Khan’s media in-charge Fasahat Ali Shanu had also aired his anger and disappointment with the approach of Akhilesh Yadav towards Azam. 

    Shanu had claimed that Akhilesh did not reciprocate the gesture of Azam Khan who supported the candidature of both Akhilesh and Mulayam for the Chief Ministership, by appointing him as leader of the opposition in the 18th Assembly.

    Shanu had claimed at a meeting in the Rampur SP office that Akhilesh Yadav could win 125 seats with the overwhelming support of Muslims but he did not want to be seen with them. He had accused Akhilesh Yadav of visiting Azam Khan in jail just once during the last 26 months of his incarceration.

    Earlier, even SP MP from Sambhal, Shafiqur Rehman Barq had also expressed his dissatisfaction with the way SP was going about Muslims. Significantly, the state chief of Jayant Chaudhury led Rashtriya Lok Dal, Masood Ahmad was the first one to raise a red flag against the alliance leadership immediately after the Assembly elections accusing them of having a dictatorial attitude and having sold the tickets to candidates.

    On the other, in an interesting turn of events, a senior Muslim cleric Maulana Shahabuddin Rizvi, associated with the revered shrine of Ala Hazrat in Bareilly, advised the community to explore other options, even the BJP, to extend support. He even accused the SP chief of abhorring Muslims and that he failed to unite himself with the minority community. The cleric charged Akhilesh with pushing the prominent Muslim faces back during the election carrying the whole campaign alone. “There is a huge difference between the SP of Akhilesh and Mulayam Singh Yadav,” said the cleric.

  • Allahabad High Court grants bail to Azam Khan in case related to misuse of official letterhead

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan in connection with a case of misusing official letterhead and seal.

    His plea for bail was allowed by Justice Ramesh Sinha.

    Khan, however, continues to be in jail in other cases.

    It was argued on behalf of Khan that he has been in jail for quite a long time and that the offences of this case are triable by the magistrate.

    The FIR was registered at Hazratganj police station (in Lucknow) on February 1, 2019.

    The informant Allama Jamir Naqvi had alleged in the FIR that Khan had misused the official letterhead and seal in order to malign the image of BJP, RSS and cleric Kalbe Jawwad at national and international level.

    The informant had also said that under pressure of the then government, his FIR was registered with delay.

    The High Court granted bail considering the petty nature of the case.

  • Uttar Pradesh elections: Rampur’s fierce battle centres around Samajwadi Party’s Azam Khan

    Express News Service

    RAMPUR (UTTAR PRADESH): One of the most keenly anticipated contests in Uttar Pradesh is taking place in the Muslim-dominated seat of Rampur, where jailed Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan is up against Congress’ Kazim Ali Khan and BJP’s Akash Saxena.

    What lends an edge to this contest is how Kazim and Saxena are trying to corner the nine-time MLA, and arguably the tallest Muslim leader in the state, Azam Khan. In fact, as one travels around Rampur, it can be seen that all poll-related conversations are polarised around just one subject – Azam Khan.

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    Against him pitted is his old rival Kazim Ali Khan, son of the last Nawab of Rampur, whose parents won the Rampur Lok Sabha seat seven times on Congress ticket. The other contender, Saxena, also has a history with Azam, as his father, former BJP minister Shiv Bahadur Saxena, lost the Assembly polls from this seat to Azam Khan way back in 1989. Saxena, a lawyer, is responsible for more than half of the cases filed against the SP leader.

    During his poll campaign 46-year-old Saxena boasts about filing 30 of the over 100 FIRs against the SP veteran while Kazim claims he is the one who is to be credited for exposing Azam. “Saxena may have followed up on a few cases but people of Rampur know that I am the one who filed the very first complaint and exposed the many frauds and crimes of Azam Khan and his family,” Kazim says.

    He adds that Azam Khan’s “so-called development was only for himself”. 

    According to retired government employee Ramesh Pandey, this election is about development and good law-and-order brought about by Yogi Adityanath versus Azam Khan’s work in Rampur. “It is true that Azam Khan brought unparalleled development to Rampur but we have to think holistically this time,” Pandey says.

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    Panwesi Lal, who works at a shoe shop, has a different view. “Rampur is way ahead in development compared to other places in UP so, Azam Khan has to be brought to power again,” he said.

    Lal’s co-worker Ashok Kumar agrees but says Azam Khan’s absence from campaigning has made things difficult for the SP leader, so much so that he could lose his seat for the very first time.

    Lal doesn’t let Kumar finish his argument and points to the e-rickshaw going past saying, “Doesn’t matter that Azam Khan is in jail but people like those who got jobs through e-rickshaws are there to vouch for him.”

    Many in Rampur agreed with Lal’s view. Fahim Khan, a lawyer in the city, said, “Azam Khan’s absence will only bring more votes for Khan as his work is there for everyone to see.”

  • Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan’s son Abdullah Azam released from jail

    By PTI

    SITAPUR: Abdullah Azam, the son of senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, was released from Sitapur jail late Saturday evening.

    Abdullah Azam and his father were lodged in Sitapur jail after they were shifted from Rampur jail on 27 February 2020.

    According to Sitapur jail superintendent Suresh Singh, Abdullah Azam’s release order was received earlier but there was discrepancy in it.

    A fresh order was sent from a Rampur court paving the way for his release, he said.

    Abdullah has as many as 43 cases registered against him in Rampur and the jail authorities got release orders in all the cases.

    Several supporters had gathered outside the jail to receive Abdullah Azam who later headed to Rampur with family members in a car.

    In brief interaction with mediapersons present there, he said that “oppression will end and the oppressor will be dethroned on March 10”, when the Uttar Pradesh assembly poll results will be declared.

    Assembly polls in the state will be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7.

  • Enforcement Directorate questions Azam Khan in money laundering case

    By ANI

    SITAPUR: Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case at Sitapur Jail in Uttar Pradesh where he is lodged, said ED officials.

    The SP leader was grilled by ED officials after the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court authorized ED to question him.

    On September 20, ED officials said the investigating agency received permission from the court to question UP leaders Azam Khan and Mukhtar Ansari, Atiq Ahmad in connection with an alleged money laundering case.

    All three politicians are currently lodged in different jails in Uttar Pradesh.

    Azam Khan is currently lodged in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur jail and is facing trial in several cases. Ansari is lodged in the Banda district jail while Atiq is in Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad. 

  • Enforcement Directorate to interrogate Azam Khan, others in money laundering cases

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Enforcement Directorate (ED) will interrogate three jailed politicians in Uttar Pradesh including Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan in alleged money laundering cases.

    Besides Khan, the agency will interrogate BSP MLA Mukhtar Ansari and former MP Atiq Ahmad.

    All three politicians are currently lodged in different jails in Uttar Pradesh. ED has got permission from courts for custodial interrogation of these politicians.

    Azam Khan is currently lodged in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur jail and facing several cases. Ansari is lodged in the Banda district jail while Atiq is in Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad.

    Notably, the Rampur district administration took back more than 70.05 hectares of land from Mohammad Ali Jauhar University run by Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar Trust headed by Samajwadi party MP Azam Khan last week. 

  • Samajwadi Party MP Azam Khan discharged from hospital, taken back to Sitapur jail

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party MP Azam Khan, who was undergoing treatment at a private hospital here, was on Friday discharged and sent back to Sitapur jail, officials said.

    Khan, 72, was admitted to Medanta hospital on July 19 due to post-Covid syndrome, including difficulty in breathing and weakness, an official statement of the hospital said.

    After improvement in his health, he was discharged from the hospital at about 1.30 pm, it added.

    Khan, the SP MP from Rampur, was sent back to Sitapur jail, where he was lodged after a number of cases including that of land grabbing were filed against him.

    The hospital said Khan has also given a Sputnik COVID-19 vaccine dose a week ago.

    Khan had tested positive for COVID-19 in May this year while being in jail.

  • UP government reclaims land of Azam Khan’s Jauhar University in Rampur

    By PTI

    RAMPUR: The Uttar Pradesh government has reclaimed 170 acres of land of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University here, run by a trust headed by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, officials said on Friday.

    The development came after the Allahabad High Court on Monday dismissed a plea against proceedings initiated by the Uttar Pradesh government to take over the university land for non-adherence to certain conditions on which it was granted to a trust in 2005.

    A team of the local revenue department employees went to the university on Thursday to complete the formalities of reclaiming 170 acres of land, officials said.

    “The property of the government returns in the hands of the government. This is Modi-Yogi rule,” said Shalabh Mani Tripathi, the media advisor of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

    Along with the tweet in Hindi, he tagged media reports of the development.

    Established in 2006, the university is run by the Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust.

    Samajwadi Party MP Azam Khan is the president of the trust and the chancellor of the university which had run into trouble over allegations of irregularities and land encroachment.

    Khan and his son Abdullah, who is also an active member of the trust, are currently lodged in the Sitapur jail.

    Citing the SDM’s report, the Allahabad High Court said a mosque was constructed over the land which was only for educational purposes.

    Thus, it is a violation of the permission granted by the state government.

    In 2005, the then Samajwadi Party government enacted the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University Act, paving the way for the creation of the university.

    Thereafter, the state government granted permission to the Trust to acquire 400 acres of land against the ceiling of 12.5 acres for the establishment of the University while imposing certain conditions, one of which was that the land will be used only for educational purposes.

    According to law, if such a condition is violated, the permission granted by the state government stands withdrawn.

  • AMU students say Azam Khan ‘deliberately’ targeted, denied bail on ‘political grounds’

    By PTI
    ALIGARH: Aligarh Muslim University students on Monday held a march in the campus to protest against the denial of bail to Lok Sabha member from Rampur and former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan.

    The students alleged that Khan was being “deliberately” targeted and denied bail on “political grounds”.

    Former secretary of the AMU students’ union Huzaifa Aamir said students were “seriously concerned” regarding the health condition of the MP.

    Khan, who was lodged in Sitapur jail in connection with cheating and many other cases, was admitted to a hospital in Lucknow recently after his health condition deteriorated.

    After handing over a memorandum to AMU Proctor Mohamed Wasim Ali, addressed to the President of India, Aamir told media persons that “the AMU community was very disappointed by the role of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav for not standing beside Khan who is one the founding members of the party”.

    He said, “Yadav’s role unfortunately is limited to tokenism and issuing tweets.”

    The memorandum, a copy of which is also being sent to the Chief Justice of India, has urged the President to intervene in the matter for granting bail to Khan on health grounds.

    It also seeks special protection for the life and security to Khan and his family.