INDIA: Azam Khan, the Samajwadi Party leader and Akhilesh Yadav’s loyalist, was sentenced to three years in jail by a UP court. The court convicted him guilty of articulating hate speech over his comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in 2019.
The incident occurred during the election campaign in 2019. With his manipulative speech, Azam Khan intentionally targeted PM Modi, Yogi Adityanath, and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Aunjaneya Kumar Singh with his manipulative speech.
He was fined Rs 25,000 by the court in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh for spreading negativity and hatred around him. The ex-MLA accused Modi of creating an atmosphere in the country in which Muslims found it difficult to exist and were not safe under the administration of Yogi and Modi.
This statement got him booked into jail, but he was released in May after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail.
The veteran Samajwadi party leader has also spent nearly two years in jail in a land-grabbing case.
Ever since the BJP came into power in Uttar Pradesh, Azam Khan has faced 87 cases along with 90 pending cases, with charges ranging from corruption and theft to land grab.
Meanwhile, his hate speech against the Prime Minister of India caused him to be registered under sections 153a (promoting enmity between two groups) and 505-1 (statement conducting to public mischief) of the IPC along with sections 125 of the Representation of People Act 1951.
Akash Saxena, a BJP MLA who contested against Azam Khan in a recent election in 2022, raised concerns that Khan was trying to initiate violence between two communities. He proved his statement after the old footage was checked and found Azam Khan guilty of hate speech.
According to the Indian Constitution, which envisions a secular nation, the Supreme Court directed the governments of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand to take immediate action against such activities.
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