The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday reserved its judgment on the criminal appeals filed by Samajwadi Party leader and former cabinet minister Azam Khan and contractor Barkat Ali, both convicted in a 2016 case involving the alleged forced eviction and assault of a resident of Rampur’s Dungarpur colony.
Justice Sameer Jain reserved the verdict after hearing arguments on the separate appeals challenging their convictions and sentences awarded by the Rampur MP-MLA court on May 30 last year. Khan was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, while Ali received a seven-year term.
The case stems from a complaint lodged in August 2019 by Abrar, a resident of Dungarpur colony, who alleged that in December 2016, Khan, retired circle officer Ale Hasan Khan, and Ali assaulted him, demolished his house, and threatened to kill him. Residents of the colony had filed a total of 12 criminal cases over alleged forced evictions, with charges including robbery, theft, and assault under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Appearing for Khan, senior advocate Imran Ullah argued that the FIR was filed three years after the incident, with the complainant claiming he was unable to act earlier due to Khan’s ministerial influence. Ullah contended that Khan ceased to be a minister in 2017 and that the trial court’s proceedings against him were conducted “illegally.”
Opposing the appeal, Additional Advocate General Manish Goel maintained that the trial court’s decision was both reasoned and lawful, stressing Khan’s “long criminal history” and asserting that the prosecution had “successfully proved its case.”
The high court’s reserved verdict will determine whether the convictions and sentences will be upheld, modified, or set aside.
