Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Azam were on Monday convicted and sentenced to jail terms of up to seven years by a special MP/MLA court in Rampur in a 2019 case related to obtaining two PAN cards using different dates of birth.
The court also slapped a fine of ₹50,000 on each of them and directed the police to take them into custody immediately.
Delivering the verdict, special magistrate Shobhit Bansal held both father and son guilty after examining documentary evidence and witness testimonies, prosecution officer Rakesh Kumar Maurya told reporters.
The case was lodged in 2019 at Rampur’s Civil Lines police station by BJP leader Akash Saxena.
Since the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, the police have registered 104 cases against Azam and his family members over a wide range of charges, including land-grabbing, criminal conspiracy, theft of cattle, misuse of official power and forging official documents such as birth certificates.
The court had exonerated Azam Khan in five cases and awarded jail terms of up to two years in seven cases. He was granted bail in 50 cases two months ago after spending about two years in jail.
