Akhilesh Yadav Ally Alleges Bias By UP Speaker In Azam Khan Case

RLD president Jayant Chaudhary has accused the Uttar Pradesh Assembly speaker of bias over the disqualification of Samajwadi Party MLA Azam Khan following his conviction by a court in a hate speech case, saying while a quick decision was taken in the matter, there was "no initiative" in case of a BJP MLA.

Mr Chaudhary wrote a letter to the speaker on October 29 recording his concerns. A copy of the letter was shared with the media on Tuesday.

In his letter, the Rajya Sabha member wrote, "The membership of senior Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan has been cancelled with immediate effect by your office taking a quick decision in the hate speech verdict by the special MP-MLA court."

"Though your activism in implementing the Representation of the People Act should be praised, but when you appear inactive in a similar case that happened in the past, it raises questions about the intention of someone who wants quick justice whether the law can be interpreted differently from person to person," he said.

Mr Chaudhary cited the example of the BJP MLA from Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar district, Vikram Saini.

"In this context, I draw your attention to the case of Vikram Saini...who has been sentenced to two years imprisonment...on 11 October 2022 by the special MP-MLA court for the Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013. No initiative has been taken on your part till date in that matter," he wrote.

"The question is whether the law can be interpreted differently for the ruling party and the opposition MLA. This question will exist until you take such an initiative in the case of BJP MLA Vikram Saini," he said.

He said he hoped that the speaker would take cognizance of his letter and decide soon in the case of Vikram Saini "for a healthy tradition of justice".

A day after he was sentenced to three years jail in the provocative speech case, Khan's membership from the Assembly was cancelled on Friday.

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Principal Secretary Pradeep Dubey told PTI that the Assembly Secretariat has declared the Rampur Sadar assembly seat vacant.

The MP/MLA court of Rampur convicted SP leader Azam Khan on Thursday for making inflammatory speech and sentenced him to three years' imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 6,000.

The Representation of the People's Act states that any person sentenced to two years or more shall be disqualified "from the date of such conviction" and shall be disqualified for six years after serving time in prison.

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