Azam Khan is presently lodged in Sitapur jail in connection with a number of cases. (File)
The Supreme Court on Friday expressed displeasure over the delay in hearing the bail application of Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan in a land grabbing case, saying "this is a travesty of justice".
Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai noted that Mr Khan has got bail in 86 out of 87 cases, and said it would hear the matter on May 11.
"He (Khan) has been out on bail in all matters except one for so long, this is a travesty of justice. We will not say anything more. We will hear it on Wednesday," the bench said.
The counsel appearing for Mr Khan told the top court that the high court has reserved its verdict on the bail application.
The Allahabad High Court on Thursday reserved its order on the bail application of Khan in the case of grabbing of enemy property for his Mohammad Ali Jauhar University project.
The high court on December 4, 2021 had reserved its decision. However, the state government later submitted an application and sought permission to present some new facts through fresh affidavits, which were filed on Thursday.
An FIR was lodged against Mr Khan and others for alleged grabbing of enemy property and misappropriation of hundreds of crores of in public money.
It was alleged in the FIR that during partition, one Imamuddin Qureshi went to Pakistan and his land was recorded as enemy property, but Mr Khan in collusion with others grabbed the 13.842-hectare plot.
Earlier, the top court in February had refused interim bail to Mr Khan for campaigning in the Uttar Pradesh elections and asked him to approach the court concerned for expeditious disposal.
The plea filed by Mr Khan had contended that the State has adopted all means available to purposefully delay the proceedings to ensure that he is incarcerated during the recently held Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Mr Khan is presently lodged in Sitapur jail in connection with a number of cases, including that of land grabbing, lodged against him in Rampur.
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