Supreme Court issues notice to UP govt on pleas of Azam Khan's wife, son in birth certificate case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought the response of the Uttar Pradesh government on separate pleas filed by Tazeen Fatma, wife of Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, and her son Abdullah Azam Khan seeking suspension of their conviction in the alleged forged birth certificate case.

While issuing notice on their pleas, a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and K Vinod Chandran asked their counsel Nizam Pasha, appearing for the petitioners, as to how it can stay the conviction.

"The stay of conviction has to be done in rare cases," the CJI said, adding that suspension of sentence is usually done.

Fatma and her son Abdullah Azam Khan moved the top court against Allahabad High Court order that had declined to suspend their conviction in the alleged forged birth certificate case.

While the high court suspended the sentence imposed by a Rampur trial court on October 18, 2023, it refused to stay their conviction, effectively sustaining the disqualification under Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The petition argues that this refusal has far-reaching and irreversible consequences for their political career and social standing. The plea terms the high court's reasoning "erroneous and unsustainable", raising the following key grounds, including that there was no evidence of forgery.

It said the high court noted that there was no material on record to establish that any of the accused had forged the birth certificate dated January 21, 2015.

The case stems from an FIR registered at Rampur's Ganj police station on December 17, 2018, on the complaint of BJP leader Akash Saxena. It was alleged that Azam Khan and his wife procured two separate birth certificates for their son.

The first certificate of June 28, 2012, issued by the Rampur Municipal Corporation, recorded Rampur as the place of birth, based on affidavits submitted by Azam Khan and Fatma.

The second certificate (January 21, 2015), issued by the Lucknow Municipal Corporation, cited records from Queen Mary’s Hospital, Lucknow, showing Lucknow as the place of birth.

A chargesheet was filed in April 2019 under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 IPC. A supplementary chargesheet under Section 120-B IPC followed in August 2021, after which charges were framed by the trial court.

In October 2023, the Rampur trial court convicted Fatma, Azam Khan and Abdullah Azam, sentencing them under various IPC provisions.

While appeals are pending, the high court's refusal to stay the conviction continues to bar Fatma from contesting elections or holding trust positions.