Wife, son to be released on bail, Azam Khan to remain in jail
Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh): The Allahabad high court has granted bail to Samajwadi Party MP Azam Khan, his wife Tanzeen Fatima and son Abdullah Azam in a case of alleged forgery of Abdullah’s birth documents.
Justice Siddharth, on Tuesday, ordered that Tanzeen Fatima and Abdullah Azam be released on furnishing bonds as per the order of the magistrate concerned.
Both are expected to walk out of jail on Wednesday.
However, Azam Khan will be released after the statement of the complainant is recorded by the trial court, the judge said.
The three had surrendered in February before a Rampur court as their bail applications were rejected in connection with the case related to alleged forgery of Abdullah’s birth certificate.
Police had then said that Azam Khan, who represents Rampur in the Lok Sabha, was facing over 80 other cases.
The court on Tuesday also directed that the three applicants shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence by intimidating or putting pressure on the witnesses during the investigation or trial.
It also asked them to cooperate in the trial sincerely without seeking any adjournment.
“The applicants shall not indulge in any criminal activity or commission of any crime after being released on bail,” the court said.
A complaint was lodged by Akash Saxena, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who alleged that ‘Azam Khan and his wife have got two birth certificates issued from different places, one dated 28.01.2012, from Nagar Palika Parishad, Rampur, and the second dated 21.04.2015, from Nagar Nigam, Lucknow, for their son’.
The first birth certificate, which recorded his date of birth as 01.01.1993, was used for making passport, etc. and was misused in foreign travel.
The second birth certificate, which recorded his date of birth as 30.09.1990, was ‘misused’ in government documents to contest election to the state Assembly and in different recognitions given to Jauhar University.
Granting the bail, the court observed that Abdullah “has not given any affidavit for changing his date of birth before Nagar Nigam, Lucknow” and it was done by his parents. “Hence, he is entitled to be released on bail forthwith,” the court said.
“Tanzeen Fatima deserves to be given the benefit of Section 437 (1) CrPC being a woman and shall be released on bail,” the court observed.
“Mohammad Azam Khan shall be released on bail only on the date the statement of the complainant gets recorded,” the court added.
The court noted that the applicants have criminal histories, but in none of the cases they have been convicted by the court as is clear from the record.