New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Friday expressed displeasure over the delay in hearing the bail application of Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan in a land grab case, saying it was a mockery of justice.
Justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai noted that Azam Khan has got bail in 86 out of 87 cases and said it will hear the matter on May 11.
“He (Khan) is out on bail in all the cases except one, it is a mockery of justice. We will not say anything else. We will hear it on Wednesday,” the bench said.
Azam Khan’s counsel told the apex court that the high court has reserved its decision on the bail application.
The Allahabad High Court on Thursday reserved its order on Khan’s bail application in connection with the grabbing of enemy property for the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University project.
The High Court had reserved its decision on 4 December 2021. However, the state government later submitted an application and sought permission to present some new facts through fresh affidavits, which were filed on Thursday.
An FIR was registered against Azam Khan and others for allegedly grabbing enemy property and misappropriating public money to the tune of hundreds of crores.
It was alleged in the FIR that during partition, one Imamuddin Qureshi had gone to Pakistan and his land was recorded as enemy property, but Azam Khan along with others grabbed the 13.842 hectare plot.
Earlier, the apex court had in February refused interim bail to Azam Khan for campaigning in the Uttar Pradesh elections and asked him to approach the court concerned for early disposal.
The petition, filed by Azam Khan, argued that the state has adopted all available means to deliberately delay the proceedings to ensure that during the recently held Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. He is presently lodged in Sitapur jail in connection with several cases including land grabbing registered against him in Rampur.
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