A year after the Samajwadi party leader Azam Khan made defamatory remarks about the Indian Army, the Uttar Pradesh government has approved the filing of chargesheet against him.
“Administration grants approval to police for action against former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan in a police complaint filed against him for a press statement he made against Indian Army on June 27, 2017,” said Rampur Additional Superintendent of Police Sudha Singh.
A complaint had been filed in June last year by Akash Saxena, son of a Bharatiya Janata Party leader under Sections 153A and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code.
Apart from Saxena’s complaint, three other complaints were registered against Khan over his controversial remark against the Indian Army.
One complaint was registered in Hazratganj and the other one in Rampur’s Civil Lines Police Station.
Earlier, Khan waded into another controversy with his statement that appeared to suggest that Indian soldiers have been indulging in rape. The comments triggered an angry reaction from the entire political fraternity.
Khan had said, “Armed women attacked soldiers and cut off their private parts. They cut the part they had problems with. India should be ashamed. How will the country face the world now?”
However, Khan downplayed that his comments affected the Indian Army’s morale and said, “My statement was misconstrued by media. How can army’s morale fall because of me? I am nobody. Army’s morale fell when Prime Minister Modi went to Pakistan.”
Azam Khan has been always been surrounded with controversies. A total of 10 cases were lodged in Revenue Board against senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan by the office of district magistrate of Rampur in March this year. Khan has been accused of procuring 104-acre land belonging to the people from Scheduled Caste “against rules.” The cases were registered by the DM following a complaint by Akash Saxena.
A few days later the SP leader, along with his son, Abdulla Azam was again in deep waters after the Uttar Pradesh police filed a case of forgery against them. As per reports, the police filed a case against the father-son duo following the directive by a Rampur court.
The case pertained to Abdulla Azam allegedly submitting a fake affidavit during the 2017 UP Assembly Elections, in order to conceal his true age. As a result of this matter, Abdulla risks losing his status as an MLA and they both may face action under section 420 and 120-B of the IPC which pertain to cheating and criminal conspiracy respectively.
