The Allahabad High Court on Thursday granted bail to senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan in the Quality Bar land encroachment case from Rampur district.
Justice Samir Jain delivered the order, which had been reserved on August 21 after hearing arguments from both sides.
The case traces back to an FIR lodged in 2019 by Revenue Inspector Angraj Singh against Syed Jafar Ali Jafri, Khan’s wife and former MP Tazeen Fatma, and his son, ex-MLA Abdullah Azam, alleging illegal possession of the Quality Bar property in Said Nagar Hardoi Patti, located along the highway under Civil Lines police station.
Notably, Khan was not originally named in the FIR. However, after a reinvestigation carried out five years later, the veteran SP leader was included as an accused in the case.
During the hearing, Khan’s counsel, advocate Imran Ulla, argued that the FIR itself suffered from undue delay, as the alleged incident dated back to 2013. He further contended that reinvestigation after a gap of five years was impermissible in law.
Granting relief, the court allowed Khan’s bail application in the matter, which is one of several cases pending against him in Rampur.
