Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan has been found guilty of hate speech over his comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath in 2019. A court in Uttar Pradesh will announce his sentence shortly.
Mr Khan was charged for a provocative speech targeting PM Modi, Yogi Adityanath and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Aunjaneya Kumar Singh, then District magistrate, during the general election campaign in 2019.
The Samajwadi Party leader had accused the Prime Minister of creating an atmosphere in the country in which Muslims found it difficult to exist.
Mr Khan is virtually the number two leader in Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, with a strong following in Rampur and other parts of western Uttar Pradesh.
The powerful leader stands to lose his membership of the state assembly if, after his conviction, he is sentenced to two years in jail or more.
Mr Khan was released from jail in May after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail.
He spent nearly two years in jail in a land-grabbing case.
To get bail, Mr Khan argued that the Uttar Pradesh government was relentlessly registering cases against him to ensure he stays in prison.
The Samajwadi Party leader faces nearly 90 cases, including that of corruption and theft, filed since the BJP took power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017.
Mr Khan's conviction comes a week after the Supreme Court asked the centre and the Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments to act tough on hate speeches, warning that any delay in taking action would invite the court's contempt.
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