Ex-UP min gets bail in Rs 101 crore defamation case

Mumbai: Former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan appeared before a magistrate court in Bandra on Saturday in connection with `101 crore defamation case filed against him by a city-based lawyer. The court granted Khan bail on a personal bond of Rs 15,000 and he will now contest his case against the complaint. Khan refrained from speaking about the case. All that he told The Asian Age was, “I have visited this court for a case and am going back as the hearing is over now.”

According to the complainant, Advocate Ejaz Abbas, as a member of the Central Waqf Council, he visited UP Sunni Waqf Board, where he observed and found many alleged loopholes and mismanagement of waqf properties in various parts of the state. In his report, Advocate Abbas claimed that Khan allegedly encroached upon waqf land and had also recommended dissolving the UP Waqf Board.

The complainant has alleged that following this, Khan called him a “RSS active worker” in his interviews to different national news channels. He also used defamatory and derogatory words against him. Khan labelled the complainant as “Atankwadio ka vakeel” (lawyer of terrorists) also.

Advocate Abbas has claimed that when he sent the notice to Khan on May 3, 2017, seeking a written apology from him. But Khan did not reply, following which he filed a private complaint against him in court.