The Income Tax (IT) department on Wednesday raided the premises of Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and former Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan, and several other locations related to his Ali Jauhar Trust in Rampur, Lucknow, Saharanpur and Ghaziabad.
Multiple teams from the IT department reached these locations early in the morning and started their searches. Though there has been no official word from the department, it is believed that the raids are linked to the Ali Jauhar Trust, which runs the Muhammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur, whose founder and chancellor is Mr. Khan.
‘Vendetta politics’
Mr. Khan — a former ten-time MLA who spent over two years in jail after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in U.P., and has faced six dozen first information reports (FIRs) over the last six years — received support from his own party.
SP president Akhilesh Yadav described the raids as ‘vendetta’ politics. “Mohammad Azam Khan Sahab is the voice of truth. He laid the foundation for a better future for children by creating a university for education. He always fought against communal forces. Today, the entire Samajwadi Party stands with him. The BJP government is misusing the central agencies and taking revenge against the Opposition parties and leaders,” Mr. Yadav said in an statement.
Considered the Muslim face of the SP, Mr. Khan has been convicted in three cases since October 2022. In one of these cases, the lower court judgement was overturned on appeal, and he was acquitted in May, 2023. However, his initial conviction in the case last October had triggered his disqualification from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly membership, leading to a by-election for the Rampur seat, which was won by the BJP’s Akash Saxena.
