Indian Lawmaker Gets Jail Term for Hate Speech Against Modi, Others

Earlier, Azam Khan, 74, was incarcerated for two years in a separate land-grabbing case before being released on bail by the Supreme Court in May. In total, the SP politician has been booked in 87 other cases in Uttar Pradesh, including corruption, theft, and land-grabbing.

Veteran Samajwadi Party (SP) politician Azam Khan, 74, was sentenced to three years in prison and assigned a fine of ₹25,000 ($303) on Thursday after a local court in India's state of Uttar Pradesh found him guilty in a 2019 hate speech case.

The court, however, has granted him bail, giving a week to appeal against the verdict in a higher court.

Ahead of the 2019 parliamentary elections, Khan was charged with hate speech against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh state chief Yogi Adityanath, and IAS (civil servant) officer Aunjaneya Kumar Singh, who was the district chief of Rampur at the time.

"I have not lost faith. Not all doors have closed - I will appeal before a higher court," Khan told reporters outside the court.

Under India's stringent laws for people's representatives, a lawmaker can be disqualified from the legislative assembly if a court has sentenced him to at least two years in jail. For this reason, Khan stands to lose his membership in the state legislative assembly.

Azam Khan is widely regarded as number two leader of Uttar Pradesh's main opposition -- the Samajwadi Party -- after party chief Akhilesh Yadav. The ex-parliamentarian also wields considerable influence among Muslims in several districts of the state.