Hate Speech: Allahabad HC Issues Notice to SP Leader Azam Khan

The Allahabad High Court has recently issued a notice to Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan in connection with a 2019 hate speech case.

The court has directed the summoning of records from both the trial court and the appellate court of Rampur.

The High Court was addressing an appeal lodged by the Uttar Pradesh government, contesting the decision of a Rampur court that had acquitted Khan in the aforementioned case. After deliberating on the appeal, Justice Raj Beer Singh has scheduled September 27 as the next hearing date for the case.

The charges against Khan relate to derogatory statements he purportedly made against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Milak police station in Rampur registered a criminal case against Khan, accusing him of hate speech.

Following this, the former Uttar Pradesh minister was found guilty and sentenced to three years of imprisonment by the Rampur trial court in October 2022. This conviction resulted in his disqualification as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.

Khan was convicted under relevant sections, namely 153A (pertaining to promoting enmity between groups) and 505 (addressing statements that lead to public disturbance) of the Indian Penal Code, along with Section 125 of the Representation of People Act 1951.

In response to the trial court’s verdict, Khan appealed to the MP/MLA court in Rampur, which subsequently acquitted him in the case on May 24 of the current year.