NEW DELHI: In a relief to jailed Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, the Supreme Court on Thursday granted him interim bail in an alleged cheating case and paved the way for his release. Khan, facing prosecution in 88 cases, has been in custody since February 2020. He can now come out of jail as he has already been granted bail in the other 87 cases.
Taking into account the chronology of cases registered against him one after another by the state government and the latest one being filed on May 6 just days before he was granted bail in all cases earlier registered against him, a bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, B R Gavai and A S Bopanna said it was fit case to grant him interim bail.
The court noted that Khan was made an accused in the latest case just a few days ago despite the FIR being registered two years back and chargesheet already filed. The SP leader alleged that he was being implicated in cases one-after-another to prolong his stay in jail.
The court said taking into consideration the delay in implication of the petitioner and the nature of the allegations made therein, “we are of the considered view that it will not be in the interest of justice to deprive the petitioner of his personal liberty, particularly when in respect of 87 criminal cases/FIRs, he has already been released on bail”.
