Lucknow: Controversial Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan was sentenced to two years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 by a court in Rampur, UP, in a seven-year-old case.
The case dates back to the 2019 Lok Sabha election, when Khan was contesting from the Rampur Parliamentary seat on an SP ticket. During an election rally in Bhot, Khan made objectionable and derogatory comments against the district administration and the District Magistrate.
Khan, a 10-time MLA and former MP, had referred to the District Magistrate as “tankhaiyya” (salaried employee), and urged supporters not to be fearful of the administration.
He also made controversial remarks while referring to BSP chief Mayawati, claiming that he had seen senior officers cleaning her shoes in photographs. “Main inse jute saaf karwaunga (I will make them clean shoes),” he had said.
A case was registered against Khan for violating the Election Commission of India’s model code of conduct.
The MP-MLA court, which heard the case, has now delivered its verdict.
Khan, who has around 80 legal and criminal cases against him related to alleged land encroachment and criminal intimidation, is currently lodged in Rampur jail.
In November 2025, the MP-MLA court had found Khan and his son Abdullah Azam Khan guilty in a case related to allegations that they had obtained two separate PAN cards.
A sessions court in Rampur dismissed the appeals filed by Azam and his son in April this year, and upheld their earlier conviction.
In 2023, Khan was sentenced to two years in prison for using “criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty” and inciting violence in a 2008 incident. Following that conviction, he was disqualified as MLA in accordance with Representation of the People Act, 1951.
