Rajesh Pandey
The Allahabad High Court has rejected the applications for suspension of sentence and bail moved by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, ex-CO Aley Hasan Khan, and two others in a criminal case of house trespass, which occurred in Doongarpur township of Rampur in 2016. It is alleged that the accused tried to vacate Dungarpur township used criminal force against the first informant and demolished his house.
These applications were moved in a criminal appeal filed by Azam Khan, Aley Hasan Khan, and two others challenging the judgment and order dated March 18, 2024, passed by Dr Vijay Kumar, additional sessions judge/special judge (MP/MLA), Rampur by which charge-sheeted accused Mohd. Azam Khan, Aley Hasan Khan, Barquat Ali Thekedar @ Faqir Mohd, and Azhar Khan were convicted and consequently, sentenced under different sections of IPC. In the abovementioned applications, the accused-appellants made a request for the suspension of their sentence and their release on bail during the pendency of the appeal.
Rejecting the applications moved by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, ex-CO Aley Hasan Khan and two others, Justice Rajeev Misra in its decision dated August 31 said, “The conclusion is that no definite finding can be returned by this court at this stage”.
In its judgment dated March 18, 2024, the MP-MLA court found the appellants guilty under section 452 (house trespass) read with section 32 (common intention) and sentenced to them under different sections of IPC. In this judgment, the maximum sentence awarded to Azam Khan was seven years’ rigorous imprisonment for trespass and criminal conspiracy (section 120B of IPC). While Aley Hasan Khan and the other two were awarded a maximum sentence of five years of rigorous imprisonment.
Subsequent to the aforementioned judgment and order dated March 18, 2024, applicants and applicants were taken into custody. Thereafter, they filed applications under section 389(1) criminal procedure code (CrPC) seeking suspension of sentence/enlargement on bail during the pendency of the criminal appeals.
One Ahtesham Khan lodged an FIR on July 25, 2019, for an incident alleged to have occurred on February 3, 2016, at police station Ganj of Rampur district. The first informant in the FIR alleged that the accused appellants along with 20-25 unknown police personnel came to Doongarpur township. Thereafter they forcibly entered the house of the first informant hurled abusive language and further exhorted to put him to death. Thereafter, the first informant and his family members were ousted from the house. The valuable goods were broken and ultimately the house of the first informant was itself demolished by a bulldozer. They also took away Rs. 25,000/- cash kept in the house and the mobile of Intex Company belonging to the first informant.
