Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan moves SC seeking stay on conviction, SC to hear matter on April 5

New Delhi [India], March 29 : Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mohammad Azam Khan's son, Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan, on Wednesday urged the Supreme Court to stay his conviction in a matter related to a protest.
The Supreme Court asked Abdullah Azam Khan's lawyer to serve a copy of the conviction order to standing counsel for the state.
A bench of justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna said it will hear the matter on April 5.
Senior Advocate Vivek Tankha and advocate Sumeer Sodhi appeared for the petitioner.
Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan, claiming he was a juvenile on the date of the incident, challenged the Allahabad High Court order dated March 17.
Abdullah Azam Khan was disqualified from the UP Assembly after he was convicted and sentenced to two-year imprisonment in a 15-year-old case.
Abdullah Azam Khan represented Suar in Rampur district in the Assembly.
Abdullah Azam Khan and his father were convicted by a local court in Uttra Pradesh for allegedly using criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duty and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), in a matter pertaining to a dharna on a state highway in January 2008.
Abdullah Azam Khan moved Allahabad High Court against a trial court order seeking suspension of his sentence.
In the plea, Abdullah Khan apprised the court that on March 17, the Allahabad HC, after perusing the application preferred by the petitioner, granted the 'Respondent State' a time period of 3 weeks to file a counter affidavit. However, it failed to appreciate the fact that if the Application is not decided expeditiously then the same would be rendered infructuous and the petitioner would suffer irreparable harm, the petitioner said.
On February 13, the trial court convicted Abdullah Azam Khan for offences punishable under Section 353, 341 IPC and 7 Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1932, and sentenced him to two years of simple imprisonment.
Subsequent to the order of the trial court on February 13, convicting the petitioner, the Assembly Secretariat, Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, on February 15, notified that the Suar Assembly constituency in Rampur district had fallen vacant.
The petitioner moved an appeal at the Court of Additional Sessions Judge, Rampur against the trial court order and also filed an application, seeking a stay on the conviction and sentence.
However, the Sessions Court dismissed the said application on February 28. Thereafter, the petitioner approached the high court against the order.
The petitioner said he believes that during the pendency of the application before the high court, a bye-election to the Rampur constituency would be announced.
The petitioner said he is concerned that if such an announcement is made, and thereafter, the high court passes a stay order, the same would be rendered moot due to the announcement of the bye-election.