The Supreme Court recently dismissed a petition filed by Rampur MLA Mohd. Abdullah Azam, the son of Samajwadi Party leader and MP, Azam Khan, seeking review of its November 7 decision upholding the former legislator’s disqualification for not having reached the minimum qualifying age on the election date.
A division bench of Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice B.V. Nagarathna, rejecting both the application for permitting an open court hearing, and for reviewing the earlier judgement of 2022 that pronounced Abdullah as disqualified to be chosen to fill the seat in the legislature.
The top court had in November upheld a decision of the Allahabad High Court to disqualify Rampur MLA Mohd. Abdullah Khan for not having attained the age of 25 years on the date of the election as prescribed in Article 173 (b) of the Constitution.
The case pertains to 2019, when the Allahabad High Court struck a major blow to Khan’s electoral aspirations when the petitioner, Nawab Khan moved the Court claiming that the young politician from the Samajwadi Party (SP) had falsely represented himself to be older for the purpose of contesting the assembly elections.
In response to this decision, Abdullah Azam had approached the Supreme Court, which, after an extended hearing, decided in favour of the original petitioner, Nawab Khan.
The appellant, Mohd. Abdullah Azam on a Samajwadi Party ticket, ran for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections from the Swar constituency in Rampur and won.
However, in December 2019, an Allahabad High Court single-judge bench invalidated his membership in the State Legislature on the grounds that he was under 25 years old when he filed his nomination, on the date that the nomination paper was scrutinised, and on the date that the results were announced.
Holding that Abdullah Azam was not qualified to be chosen to fill the seat in the legislature of the State in terms of Article 173 (b) of the Constitution, Justice Surya Prakash allowed the election petition.
