SC refuses to stay Allahabad HC verdict annulling election of SP MP Azam Khan's son as UP MLA

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the Allahabad High Court verdict annulling the election of Samajwadi Party MP Mohammad Azam Khan's son to the UP Assembly on grounds that he was underage and did not qualify to fight the 2017 polls.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde issued notice and sought response from the Election Commission and defeated BSP candidate Nawaz Ali Khan, who had challenged Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan's election from Suar Assembly constituency in Rampur.

The bench also comprising Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant said they will hear the matter as some doubts have been created by placing documents other than school records to show that Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan was qualified to contest the election.

"We have read the Allahabad High Court judgment, it is based on evidence," the bench said.

Abdullah Khan had on December 17 approached the Supreme Court challenging the High Court verdict which had ruled that he was not qualified to contest the election of the legislative assembly as he had not turned 25 when he filed the nomination papers for the 2017 polls.

In his election petition against Abdullah Khan in the high court, Kazim Ali Khan had contended that the elected MLA's actual date of birth was January 1, 1993 and not September 30, 1990, as claimed in the nomination paper.

Abdullah Khan was elected as MLA on a Samajwadi Party ticket on March 11, 2017.

The unsuccessful Bahujan Samaj Party candidate from the Suar assembly segment, Kazim Ali Khan, had said in his election petition in the high court that educational certificates, passport and visa of Abdullah Khan mentioned January 1, 1993 as the SP MLA's date of birth.

The high court had unseated the Suar MLA after examining the entire facts as borne out of various documents, including the service record of Abdullah Khan's mother. It too had mentioned January 1, 1993, as his date of birth.

In its ruling, the high court had directed its registrar general to intimate the substance of the verdict to the Election Commission of India and the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly speaker to take follow-up actions.

Image credits: PTI