Lucknow, March 24: Six legislators in Uttar Pradesh have been disqualified in the past five years after they were convicted by courts on various charges.

Former Samajwadi Party MLA Azam Khan faced disqualification from the state Assembly last month after a Moradabad court order sentenced him to two years in jail in a 15-year-old case. He held the Rampur Assembly seat. Azam Khan, Convicted in Hate Speech Case, Disqualified From Uttar Pradesh Assembly.

He was found guilty of staging a dharna on a state highway on January 29, 2008 as their cavalcade was stopped by police for checking in the wake of an attack on a CRPF camp in Rampur on December 31, 2007. His son, Abdullah Azam, after being convicted in the same case, was also disqualified from the UP Assembly along with his father.

Incidentally, this is the second time that Abdullah Azam, who held the Suar Assembly seat, has been disqualified from the UP Assembly. He was earlier disqualified in 2020 after the Allahabad High Court set aside his election to the Assembly on grounds of a forged birth certificate. His previous disqualification was effective from December 16, 2019.

In November 2022, BJP MLA Vikram Saini was disqualified from his Khatauli seat after a court in Muzaffarnagar sentenced him to two years of imprisonment in a case related to the 2013 riots. Abdullah Azam, Son of SP Leader Azam Khan, Disqualified From Uttar Pradesh Assembly After Convicted in 15-Year-Old Case.

Indra Pratap a.k.a. Khabbu Tiwari, BJP MLA from Gosainganj seat in Ayodhya, was disqualified in 2021 after an MP/MLA court in Ayodhya found him, and two others, guilty of forgery of marksheets to secure admission in a college in 1992. They were sentenced to five years in prison along with a fine.

The trial court had convicted the three under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record). Another BJP MLA Ashok Chandel's membership was annulled on the grounds that he had been convicted by the Allahabad High Court for a mass murder that took place 22 years ago in Hamirpur. Muzaffarnagar Riots 2013: BJP MLA Vikram Saini Disqualified From Uttar Pradesh Assembly.

The case against Ashok Chandel dated back to January 26 , 1997 when a minor altercation between local BJP leader Rajiv Shukla and Chandel led to a shootout in which five persons, including Shukla's two elder brothers Rakesh, Rajesh and nephews Ambuj, Ved Nayak and Srikant Pandey were killed.

Five more persons, including two children, had suffered bullet injuries in the shootout after which an FIR was lodged against Chandel and nine others. All the 10 accused were acquitted on July 15, 2002 by additional district and sessions judge, Hamirpur, on the ground that the testimony of witnesses were doubtful.

The decision was challenged by Rajiv Shukla before the High Court, which reversed the judgement. Ashok Chandel, a former MP and a four-time MLA from Hamirpur, is now lodged in Agra jail.

Expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar, who held the Bangarmau seat in Unnao, was disqualified from the Assembly after he was convicted in a rape case in 2020. A four-term MLA, Sengar was expelled by the BJP in August 2019 following a furore over his alleged involvement in rape of a minor at his Makhi village in Unnao in June 2017.

The case came to the limelight after the survivor attempted self-immolation outside the Chief Minister's residence in April 2018 when the police did not act on her complaint. A few days later, her father died in police custody.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 24, 2023 04:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).