Special MP/MLA Court in Rampur convicts Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan and son Abdullah Azam of forgery under IPC Sections 420.
Abdullah obtained second PAN card with fake DOB instead of actual to meet 25-year age limit for 2017 Swar Assembly polls; Azam accused of masterminding the conspiracy.
Verdict just two months after Azam’s release from Sitapur Jail in separate case; both taken into custody immediately, with SP seeking same prison placement.
Rampur Court Jails Azam Khan And On Abdullah For 7 years
The conviction piles onto Azam's 50+ pending cases, including a three-year term in a 2023 fake arms license matter, painting a picture of relentless legal scrutiny since the SP's 2017 poll drubbing
Summary
The Samajwadi Party's Rampur bastion, senior leader Mohammad Azam Khan and his son, former MLA Abdullah Azam, were sentenced to seven years in prison on Monday by a Special MP/MLA Court for forging documents to obtain dual PAN cards with conflicting dates of birth, enabling Abdullah's controversial 2017 Assembly election victory.
Special Judge Shobhit Bansal delivered the verdict after a five-year trial, convicting the duo under.
"The prosecution has proven beyond doubt that Abdullah procured the forged PAN in conspiracy with his father and submitted it in official records," the judge ruled, citing bank statements, Income Tax Department testimonies, and altered educational certificates as irrefutable evidence.
The case, filed on December 6, 2019, at Rampur's Civil Lines police station by BJP leader Akash Saxena, exposed how Abdullah, born on January 1, 1993, secured a second PAN card listing September 30, 1990, as his birth date to qualify for the Swar constituency seat. At 24 during nominations, he fell short of the constitutional 25-year minimum; the forgery allegedly involved fabricated birth proofs and bank KYC updates. Prosecutors argued Azam, a five-time Rampur MP and SP co-founder, orchestrated the plot to propel his son into politics, with the second card used for election affidavits, passport applications, and financial transactions.The conviction piles onto Azam's 50+ pending cases, including a three-year term in a 2023 fake arms license matter, painting a picture of relentless legal scrutiny since the SP's 2017 poll drubbing
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