Azam Khan's son disqualified from UP Assembly

LUCKNOW: Abdullah Azam, son of SP leader Mohd Azam Khan, has been disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh assembly after he was convicted in a 15-year-old case in Moradabad.

The Suar Assembly seat he held has been declared vacant.

The Representation of the People Act lists offences which can lead to disqualification of legislators, and also states that anyone sentenced to imprisonment for two years or more shall be disqualified "from the date of such conviction" and remain disqualified for another six years after serving time in jail.

On Monday, a Moradabad court awarded jail term to Abdullah Azam Khan, also a Samajwadi Party leader, and his father Azam Khan in the 2008 case.

They were accused of sitting on dharna on a state highway on January 29, 2008, as their cavalcade was stopped by the police for checking in the wake of an attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in Rampur on December 31, 2007.

However, the court has granted bail to both of them.

Abdullah Azam Khan and his father were booked under Section 353 (criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

In October last year, Azam Khan, who represented the Rampur Sadar Assembly seat, faced disqualification after a court sentenced him to three years in jail in a hate speech case.

In the bypoll held on the seat in December last year, BJP's Akash Saxena had defeated Azam Khan's protege Asim Raza.

Azam Khan had won the Rampur Sadar seat nine times since 1980.