Allahabad High Court grants bail to Azam Khan and son in PAN card case

PRAYAGRAJ —

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday granted bail and suspended the sentences of senior Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan and his son, former MLA Abdullah Azam Khan, in the two PAN card case.

Justice Sameer Gopal, presiding over a single bench, delivered the ruling after previously reserving the order upon hearing arguments from both sides. The father-son duo had filed criminal revision petitions challenging the trial court’s conviction and sentencing, while seeking interim relief including suspension of sentence, bail, and a stay on their conviction pending the final disposal of their petitions.

While the High Court approved their bail and sentence suspension, it declined their request to stay the conviction itself. Senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi, N.I. Jafri, and Shashwat Anand represented Azam Khan and Abdullah Azam, while Additional Advocate General Anup Trivedi appeared for the Uttar Pradesh government.

According to the prosecution, the case involves allegations that the two obtained and used secondary PAN cards reflecting different dates of birth, which were allegedly utilized in election nomination papers. On October 14, the High Court had directed that their cases be connected with a related criminal revision petition involving Dr. Tazeen Fatima versus the State of Uttar Pradesh.

In a separate development, the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) Lucknow zonal office attached land and buildings belonging to the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The attached properties carry an estimated current market value of ₹1,170 crore, with construction expenditures totaling ₹426.46 crore, largely funded by government money, following an investigation spanning nearly seven years.

The university is managed by the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, founded by Azam Khan, who serves as the university’s chancellor. The ED initiated its money laundering probe based on 26 FIRs registered at the Azim Nagar police station in Rampur, which alleged the forcible acquisition of farmers’ agricultural land for the university.

According to a Rampur district administration report, Azam Khan also illegally occupied 34 acres comprising 45 plots of ‘enemy property’ in Singhankhera village, even after the custodian cancelled the lease agreement. The Custodian of Enemy Property for India subsequently reclaimed possession of the land. Investigators found that funds allocated for public works were allegedly diverted to the university, government works were executed within the private campus, and contractors channeled funds back to the trust as donations.