The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the ongoing criminal trial against Abdullah Azam Khan, son of senior Samajwadi Party leader and former MLA Azam Khan, in two cases relating to alleged fraud in obtaining a passport and possessing two Permanent Account Numbers (PAN cards). The top court also issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government seeking its response.
A bench comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and N. Kotiswar Singh passed the interim order while hearing Abdullah’s appeal challenging the July 23 decision of the Allahabad High Court, which had refused to quash the proceedings pending before the MP-MLA court in Rampur.
The first case concerns the alleged use of a false date of birth by Abdullah to procure a passport. BJP MLA Akash Saxena had lodged a complaint on July 30, 2019, claiming Abdullah obtained his passport using the date of birth as September 30, 1990, while his educational records showed January 1, 1993.
The second case involves accusations that Abdullah held two PAN cards and submitted inconsistent information in his 2017 election affidavit. Saxena alleged that Abdullah, with the help of his father Azam Khan, used fraudulent means to secure two PAN cards to meet eligibility criteria for contesting elections. He further claimed that different PAN numbers were mentioned in Abdullah’s election affidavit and income tax returns.
The FIR in the PAN card case was lodged on December 6, 2019, at Rampur’s Civil Lines police station, naming both Abdullah and Azam Khan.
Abdullah had moved the High Court seeking to quash the entire proceedings, but the High Court rejected his petitions, stating that the applications were “devoid of merit.”
With the Supreme Court’s intervention, proceedings in both cases will now remain halted until further orders, offering temporary relief to the former MLA’s son.
The matter will be taken up again after the Uttar Pradesh government files its response to the apex court’s notice.
