An Uttar Pradesh court has increased the jail term of Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan from seven to ten years and raised the penalty on his son Abdullah Khan from Rs 50,000 to Rs 3.5 lakh in a dual PAN card case. The Special MP-MLA Court in Rampur also raised Azam Khan’s penalty from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh, according to a lawyer. This decision follows the prosecution’s appeal for sentence enhancement for the father-son duo, who were serving seven years in prison for Abdullah Khan possessing two PAN cards with different dates of birth.
The court’s ruling came after Abdullah Khan was found guilty of obtaining a second PAN card with a false date of birth to meet the age requirement for contesting elections. Both Azam Khan and his son were sentenced to seven years in jail on November 17, 2025. Azam Khan’s appeal against his sentence was rejected earlier this year, while the prosecution’s appeal for sentence enhancement was granted recently. The case stemmed from a complaint filed by a BJP leader in 2019, alleging fraud, forgery, and criminal conspiracy.
The complainant accused Abdullah Khan of holding two PAN cards with conflicting dates of birth, one stating January 1, 1993, and the other September 30, 1990. Following the court’s decision, the complainant hailed the verdict as historic, emphasizing the rarity of sentence enhancement through an appeal. During the trial, the prosecution demonstrated that Abdullah Khan, a former MLA, engaged in forgery to qualify for elections, with Azam Khan allegedly involved in the conspiracy.
The prosecution argued that Abdullah did not meet the minimum age requirement for contesting elections and resorted to forging documents to manipulate his age on record. The court’s judgment last year highlighted Azam Khan’s involvement in another legal matter. The complainant further alleged that the forged PAN cards were utilized for electoral purposes and income tax filings.
