UP court raises by 3 years Azam Khan's 7-yr prison sentence in double PAN card use case

A court in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur district increased Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan's prison sentence from seven to 10 years in a case related to alleged use of fake PAN cards.

A court in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur district on Saturday increased the prison sentence of Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan from seven years to 10 years in a case related to alleged use of two PAN cards, while maintaining the seven-year jail term for his son Abdullah Azam Khan.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Vijay Kumar passed the order while hearing an appeal filed by the prosecution seeking enhancement of punishment.

Earlier, the MP-MLA magistrate court of Shobhit Bansal had sentenced both Azam Khan and his son to seven years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 each.

Assistant District Government Counsel Seema Singh Rana on Saturday said that the court enhanced the punishment awarded to Azam Khan under various sections and increased the fine imposed on him to Rs 5 lakh.

She said Abdullah Azam Khan's seven-year jail term was retained, but the fine imposed on him was enhanced to Rs 3.5 lakh.

Rana said the case pertained to alleged preparation and use of fake PAN cards, in which both have already been convicted.

She said appeals filed by the accused against the conviction had earlier been dismissed by the sessions court on April 20.

The prosecution had subsequently sought enhancement of the sentence, following which the court delivered its verdict on Saturday, she added.

Meanwhile, BJP MLA from Rampur Akash Saxena described the order as ''historic''.

''This is, in itself, a historic verdict. We had challenged the original punishment on the grounds that it was too lenient, and the court listened to our plea. I am fully confident that in the times to come as well, truth alone shall prevail.''.

Saxena also claimed that it is the first such ruling (in India) in which a sentence has been enhanced.