Lucknow: In a 2019 hate speech case, the special MP/MLA court of Rampur, Uttar Pradesh sentenced Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan to three years in jail on Thursday. Earlier in the day, the court found Khan guilty of hate speech. He was also asked to pay a fine of Rs 25,000 by the court.

SP leader was charged for a ‘provocative speech’ against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, and IAS officer Aunjaneya Kumar Singh, then District magistrate of Rampur during a party campaign in 2019 general elections.

With the conviction and jail sentence, the veteran Samajwadi party leader will lose his membership of the UP State Assembly. Local BJP leaders and advocate Akash Saxena had reported Azam Khan’s ‘provocative speech’ to the returning officer. Based on the report of the returning officer, the police had filed an FIR against Azam Khan. Saxena had contested against Khan in the 2022 state elections.

After spending nearly two years in jail in a land grabbing case, Azam Khan was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court. There are nearly 90 cases registered against the Samajwadi leader since 2017.

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