Allahabad HC refuses to stay conviction of Abdullah Azam Khan

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court on Thursday refused to stay the conviction of Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan, son of Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, in a 2008 criminal case, saying the applicant is trying to seek relief on "absolutely non-existent grounds".

In February, Abdullah Azam Khan was awarded two years of imprisonment in the case by a Moradabad court, which led to his disqualification as MLA.

Rejecting his application, Justice Rajiv Gupta observed, “In fact, the applicant is trying



to seek stay of his conviction on absolutely non-existent grounds. It is a well settled principle of law that stay of conviction is not a rule but an exception to be resorted to in rare cases." 

"Disqualification is not limited only to MPs/MLAs. Moreover, as many as 46 criminal cases are pending against the applicant. It is now the need of the hour to have purity in politics. Representatives of people should be men of clear antecedents,” the court observed.