Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan was on Saturday convicted by the MP-MLA court in Rampur in a case related to objectionable remarks made against the then District Magistrate during the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign. The court sentenced him to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹5,000.
The case stems from a public rally held in the Bhot police station area of Rampur during the 2019 general elections. Azam Khan was contesting the Lok Sabha elections for the first time in that year. During the election campaign, Azam Khan made several controversial statements. Several cases were filed against him in various police stations across the district for violating the code of conduct. In one such election speech, Khan made several objectionable comments against officers, threatening that he would get them to clean his shoes.
Azam Khan said in his speech, “Stand firm, do not fear these collectors. They are salaried employees, and we are not scared of salaried people. We have seen photographs of Mayawati where big officers were cleaning her shoes with handkerchiefs. They have an alliance with them, if God wills, I will make them clean shoes.”
The then Rampur DM Anjaneya Kumar Singh, who was also the Returning Officer for polls, took cognisance of the remarks, which were seen as lowering the dignity of a constitutional authority and violating the model code of conduct. An FIR was registered at Bhot police station on the complaint of the official. After investigation, the police filed a chargesheet in the MP-MLA court. The prosecution examined several witnesses during the prolonged trial.
Delivering the verdict today, the court held Azam Khan guilty under relevant provisions of law, including those pertaining to promoting enmity and statements causing public mischief during elections. The court pronounced the sentence after hearing arguments from both sides, which had concluded on May 4.
This is the latest in a string of legal cases against the veteran SP leader, who has faced multiple prosecutions since 2019. Azam Khan is currently lodged in Rampur jail in connection with other convictions, including the dual PAN card fraud case where he and his son Abdullah Azam Khan were recently handed seven-year sentences. In 2024, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail in an assault and criminal conspiracy case. In 2022, he was convicted in a hate speech case.
He has secured acquittals or bail in some hate-speech cases from the same period, but the string of cases has significantly impacted his political career.
