Allahabad HC rejects Azam Khan's plea seeking suspension of sentence in house trespass case

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has rejected applications for suspension of sentence and bail moved by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan and three others in a 2016 case of house trespass in Dungarpur township of Rampur.

On March 18, a special MP-MLA court in Rampur sentenced Khan, a former Uttar Pradesh minister, to seven years in prison and three others -- former circle officer Aley Hasan Khan, Barquat Ali alias Faqir Mohd and Azhar Khan -- to five years in prison in the case.

The four accused had challenged the Rampur court's order in the high court and made a request for the suspension of sentence and their release on bail during the pendency of appeal.

Rejecting the applications, Justice Rajeev Mishra in his order passed on Saturday said, "The conclusion is that no definite finding can be returned by this court at this stage".

The MP-MLA court found Azam Khan and others guilty under section 452 (house trespass) read with section 34 (common intention) and sentenced to them under different sections of IPC.

Thereafter, they filed applications under section 389(1) of Criminal Procedure Code seeking suspension of sentence/enlargement on bail during the pendency of the criminal appeals.

Azam Khan and others were booked in 2019 for the forced demolition of a house in 2016 when the SP was in power in Uttar Pradesh. The case was registered by one Ahtesham Khan at Ganj police station in Rampur.

They were booked under Indian Penal Code sections 447 (punishment for criminal trespass), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), among others.