Allahabad High Court Grants Bail To MP Mohammad Azam Khan In UP Jal Nigam Recruitment Scam Case

The Allahabad High Court today granted bail to Senior Samajwadi Party leader and a Member Of Parliament, Mohammad Azam Khan in a case registered against him in connection with the 2016 Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam recruitment scam.

The Bench of Justice Ramesh Sinha noted that the State had failed to point out any clinching evidence from the charge sheet against Khan, which could show that he actively participated in the recruitment process in the U.P. Jal Nigam.

It may be noted that Khan is presently facing 87 criminal cases and he has been released on bail in all cases, except two cases including the instant case. He would be able to get out of jail if he is granted bail in one more case against him. He is presently lodged in the Sitapur Jail.

In the UP Assembly Election results declared yesterday, Khan was declared as the winning candidate from the Rampur Assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur district.

The case in brief

As per the case of the prosecution, the investigation in the alleged Recruitment scam was handed over to the Special Investigation Team on a complaint filed regarding alleged irregularities in the appointments to 1,300 vacant posts in the Jal Nigam in the year 2016.

Allegedly, the Chairman of the Jal Nigam (Khan) had unauthorizedly approved the proposal of the Managing Director and the Officer-on-Special Duty for conducting the examination of Assistant Engineer and Junior Engineer and for conducting the examination of Clerks and Stenographers through M/s Aptech Ltd, Mumbai without the recommendation of Jal Nigam Board.

When the BJP government came to power in Uttar Pradesh in March 2017, an inquiry was ordered in the matter and 122 recruited engineers were also dismissed from service.  A First Information Report [FIR] was registered in the case in the year 2018 under Sections 409, 420, 120-B, 201 I.P.C. and Section 13 (1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Khan and co-accused persons on the allegations of irregular recruitment/appointment.

After due investigation, the Investigating Officer submitted a charge sheet in May 2021 against Khan and co-accused person Girish Chandra Srivastava under Sections 201, 204, 420, 467, 468, 471 read with Section 120B I.P. and Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The trial court took cognizance on the aforesaid charge sheet. After that, the applicant approached the Special Judge (Anti-Corruption) (C.B.I.) (Central), Lucknow by filing a bail application, which was rejected, and thereafter, khan filed the instant first application for bail before this Court

Court's observations

In its order, the court noted that the Additional Advocate General conceded before the Court that there was no direct evidence against Khan in the charge sheet and he only stated that the applicant being a powerful and influential person, no direct evidence could be collected against him.

Significantly, the Court noted that on the recommendation of the Managing Director and officials of the U.P. Jal Nigam, Khan, being the Chairman of the U.P. Jal Nigam had only consented that the recruitment be done by M/s Aptech Ltd. when TCS showed its inability to conduct the said on-line examination.

Further, the Court noted that he is no longer holding any post in the affairs of the State and that there is no further chance of tampering with the evidence. The Court also took into account the fact that the charge-sheet has been filed in May 2021 and the trial Court has taken cognizance of it. 

In view of this, finding that the continued custody of the applicant, prima facie, may not be necessary for the purpose of further investigation and trial in the instant case, the Cour granted him bail.

Case title - Mohammad Azam Khan v. State Of U.P. Thru Prin. Secy. Home And Anr.
Case Citation:2022 LiveLaw (AB) 108

Click Here To Read/Download Order