Azam Khan Taken Into ED Custody Minutes After Walking Out of Rampur Jail on HC Relief in PAN Card Case
The Allahabad High Court suspended the seven-year sentences of Azam Khan and his son without staying their conviction. The Enforcement Directorate picked up Khan outside the jail in a money laundering probe.
Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan walked out of Rampur district jail on Saturday, 31 October, after getting relief from the Allahabad High Court, but was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) within minutes. Reports differ on his son Abdullah Azam, who was released alongside him: India TV reported that the ED took both men into custody, while Muslim Mirror reported that Abdullah went home.
The High Court order
The release followed an order of the Allahabad High Court, where Justice Samit Gopal suspended the seven-year prison terms handed to the two in the PAN card case. The court did not stay the conviction itself, which therefore remains on record. The High Court had reserved its decision on their revision petition on 15 October. Their counsel, Mohammad Zubair Khan, sent the release orders to the jail authorities on Saturday.
The case dates back to a 2019 FIR filed on a complaint by BJP leader Aakash Saxena, who alleged that Abdullah Azam held two PAN cards carrying different dates of birth to gain undue advantage. In November last year, the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate in Rampur convicted both father and son of fraud, using forged documents and criminal conspiracy.
Scenes outside the jail
As they were being escorted to a vehicle, a scuffle broke out and Azam Khan had a heated exchange with ED officials. Speaking to the media, he alleged he was being targeted because of his Muslim identity and because a Muslim had built a university,, and said “the law has ceased to exist.” A large crowd of Samajwadi Party workers gathered, and additional police were deployed from nearby stations.
The ED case
According to Muslim Mirror, the action relates to a money laundering probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, based on a 2019 ED case over alleged financial irregularities and land grabbing linked to Azam Khan and the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust. Two days earlier, the agency attached land and buildings of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University valued at about ₹1,170 crore. Khan was to be produced before a special PMLA court in Ghaziabad.
Because the conviction in the PAN card case has not been stayed, the disqualification from contesting elections that flows from it continues.
Featured image: Allahabad High Court, Prayagraj. Photo: Vroomtrapit at English Wikipedia, CC0 (source).
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