Azam Khan's son fined over Rs 3.71 crore in stamp duty evasion case

Rampur: A court here on Tuesday imposed a penalty of nearly Rs 3.71 crore on senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan's son Abdullah Azam Khan in a stamp duty evasion case related to land deals dating back to 2022.

The Rampur District Magistrate's found that Abdullah Azam had purchased land in the Sadar tehsil area and registered four sale deeds (benami transactions) by misrepresenting residential plots as agricultural land.

This misrepresentation led to an alleged stamp duty evasion of approximately Rs 1.78 crore, according to a case lawyer.

After an investigation by the SDM Sadar confirmed the irregularities, three separate cases were filed in the district magistrate's court. Notices were issued to Abdullah in February last year, and following hearings from both sides, the DM court issued its order Tuesday, the lawyer said.

"The court has found stamp duty evasion in all four sale deeds," said district government counsel Prem Kishor Pandey.

"One sale deed in Madhiya Nadar Bagh had already been decided earlier, involving a penalty of around Rs 9.22 lakh. Today's order pertains to the remaining three properties in Benjeerpur Ghatampur - ”one of which carries a penalty of around Rs 1.01 crore and the other two about Rs 33.80 lakh each." "In total, Abdullah Azam has been ordered to pay a penalty of approximately Rs 3.71 crore," Pandey added.

The penalty includes double the evaded stamp duty, along with a monthly interest of 1.5 per cent for delayed payment.

According to officials, the land purchases were registered using agricultural rates to reduce stamp duty costs, despite the properties falling in residential areas. The fraud was detected when the properties were reassessed using residential rates, which significantly increased the required stamp duty.

Abdullah Azam has about a month to respond to the order. Further action will depend on whether the amount is deposited or contested, they added.