Samajwadi Party's Azam Khan disqualified from UP Assembly after court order

Samajwadi Party MLA Abdullah Azam Khan was disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday, an official said, days after a court sentenced him to two-year imprisonment in a 15-year-old case.

This is Khan's second disqualification from the Assembly.

Khan, the son of senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, represented Suar in Rampur district in the Assembly.

"Abdullah Azam Khan has been disqualified following the Moradabad court order sentencing him to two years (in jail) in a 15-year-old case. His seat has been declared vacant from February 13," a senior official of the Assembly said.

Abdullah Azam Khan, along with his father, was sentenced under section 353 (criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) over a dharna on a state highway on January 29, 2008 as their cavalcade was stopped by police for checking in the wake of an attack on a CRPF camp in Rampur on December 31, 2007.

He was earlier disqualified in 2020 after the Allahabad High Court set aside his election to the Assembly. His previous disqualification was effective from December 16, 2019.