Azam Khan out on bail after almost two years, supporters gather at Sitapur jail

Senior Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Azam Khan was released on bail from the Sitapur jail in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, 23 September, after nearly two years of incarceration. Khan drove past the jail premises in a private vehicle, not interacting with a host of reporters who tried to get a comment from him.

His elder son Adeeb, accompanied by hundreds of party workers, had gathered outside Sitapur District Jail since morning to receive him. Several SP leaders, including national secretary and former MLA Anup Gupta, Moradabad MP Ruchi Vira and district president Chatrapati Yadav, were also outside the jail to welcome Khan.

Speaking to reporters earlier, Adeeb said, "Azam Khan is the hero of the day. I am here with all his supporters to welcome him. I have nothing more to say. Whatever has to be said, my father will say after coming out of jail."

Welcoming his release, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav announced that all "false" cases against him will be withdrawn once the party comes to power in Uttar Pradesh.

The legal troubles for Khan, considered one of the SP’s prominent Muslim leaders, began with a hate speech case filed against him ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Since then, both the number of cases and punitive action have continued without pause. Multiple cases were also registered against his wife, and son Abdullah.

Khan and his son were also disqualified as members of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly following their convictions. In the 2022 Assembly election, Khan won from the Rampur Sadar segment, while Abdullah won from the Suar segment in Rampur.

In October 2023, a special court in Rampur convicted Khan, his wife Tanzeen Fatima, and Abdullah in a case related to the alleged forgery of Abdullah’s birth certificate. The case was registered in 2019.

The court sentenced all three to seven years' imprisonment, following which they were taken into custody and sent to jail. While Tanzeen Fatima and Abdullah were later granted bail and subsequently released from jail, Khan continued to remain behind bars owing to several other criminal cases pending against him.

Meanwhile, the district administration on Tuesday imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) in Sitapur to "prevent any untoward incident", officials said, even as a large number of supporters managed to gather near the jail with their vehicles, causing traffic congestion.

"There was chaos and rush despite Section 163 being in force. Vehicles were not allowed to come close to the jail, but they somehow managed to reach there. Action had to be taken to avoid further complications," city circle officer Vinayak Bhosle said earlier in the day.

With PTI inputs