The Supreme Court of India has rejected to hear a plea by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan in which he had requested to transfer the cases against him out of Uttar Pradesh. The apex court ruled this on 4th January 2022. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice P S Narasimha, and Justice SA Nazeer also instructed him to go to the Allahabad High Court situated in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.
Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan had filed a petition and appealed to the Supreme Court that some cases registered against him in UP should be transferred to other states. The court rejected his demand and asked him to go to the High Court with the plea, and directed that his petition can be heard soon by the high court.
Advocate Kapil Sibbal appeared in the Supreme Court on behalf of the SP leader. In his petition, Azam Khan said, “I will not get justice in the state. I am being forcibly persecuted. It is not a judge, but the state who is persecuting me. The situation will remain the same everywhere within a state.”
As an example of the alleged bias of the state govt against Khan, Sibal said that he was convicted in a case when his Section 482 petition seeking production of additional evidence was pending in the High Court. Due to this conviction, his membership in the assembly has been cancelled.
Kapil Sibal also alleged that Azam Khan is being ‘harassed’ by the BJP government with hundreds of FIRs registered against him in Uttar Pradesh. He claimed that police were using forged documents against him and the trial court is not hearing to his objections.
However, the Supreme Court bench was not convinced to take up the petition for transferring the cases out of Uttar Pradesh. The bench said that if Azam Khan has any grievances against the trial court, he can move next superior court. The court also said that even if the court order is wrong, it can’t be the basis for alleging bias and transferring the case to a different state.
The bench led by the CJI said, “More concrete reasons will be needed to transfer criminal cases against Azam Khan.”
CJI Chandrachud added, “you can approach the Allahabad High Court under Section 482 of the CrPC. Today trial is being conducted and witness statements are being recorded. This is not a ground for transfer. Can you not challenge this order before the High Court? You can always ask for a transfer before any other district of the State of UP. But you’re saying that they won’t hear your plea anywhere in the State! Sorry we can’t transfer.”
However, Kapil Sibal said that transferring the case to a different district in the state will not be helpful for Azam Khan, and urged the court to hear the matter. But the apex court didn’t relent, saying, “When we transfer, we need a far more cogent reasons for transfer. We are giving you liberty to approach the High Court but we can’t transfer.”
It is notable that Azam Khan has several criminal cases registered against him in Uttar Pradesh and recently his assembly membership was also cancelled after being found guilty in one case. The Rampur constituency in Uttar Pradesh has been a stronghold of Azam Khan for many years. Akash Saxena of the Bharatiya Janata Party won the seat in the by-election held in December 2022.
