A bench comprising CJI Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha agreed to take up Khan’s petition. The Supreme Court will hear on Friday the petition filed by disqualified Samajwadi Party MP Abdullah Azam Khan for stay of execution, forcing a by-election for his seat in Suar on May 10.
According to lawyer Vivek Tankha, who represented Khan, the deadline for filing election petitions for the by-election is Thursday. In March, Khan appealed to the Supreme Court against an interim order of the Allahabad High Court, which issued a notice of his appeal against the conviction and scheduled a hearing three weeks later. On April 5, the Supreme Court requested that the case be heard on April 10.
On February 13, a court sentenced Khan to up to two years in prison for assaulting an official and using criminal force to prevent him from performing his duties during a sit-in. On March 29, he was disqualified as a member of the assembly.
The Supreme Court said April 13 that Khan sought a stay on “absolutely nonexistent” grounds. According to the court, Khan faces 46 criminal charges and the precept of “purity in politics” requires that public officials be “men with a clear record”. It would not be unfair to the applicant if the conviction were not overturned.
Khan argued that his conviction could not be upheld because he was a minor at the time of the indictment. Under the Representation of the People Act, any elected representative convicted of a crime for two years or more is immediately disqualified.