Samajwadi Party (SP) leader, Azam Khan (74), was sentenced to three years in jail, on Thursday, by a court that found him guilty of hate speech over his remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in 2019.

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Earlier today, Azam Khan was convicted for making a provocative speech during the 2019 general election campaign against PM Modi, Yogi Adityanath, and IAS officer Aunjaneya Kumar Singh, then District magistrate. The court in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, also fined him Rs 25,000.

Azam Khan has one week to file an appeal. "I haven't given up hope. Not all options have been closed; I intend to file an appeal with a higher court," said Khan.

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If Azam Khan does not challenge the sentence immediately in the High Court, he will be disqualified as an MLA. The Uttar Pradesh assembly can also disqualify him quickly, as is the case when any legislator is sentenced to more than two years in prison.

Azam Khan accused the Prime Minister of creating an environment in the country that made it difficult for Muslims to exist. Khan is widely regarded as Akhilesh Yadav's number two leader in Samajwadi Party, and he enjoys a sizable following in Rampur and other parts of western Uttar Pradesh.

The veteran leader was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in May and was released from prison.

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He was imprisoned for nearly two years in a land-grabbing case.

Azam Khan claimed that the Uttar Pradesh government was relentlessly filing cases against him to keep him imprisoned to get bail.

Since the BJP took power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, the Samajwadi Party leader has been charged in 87 cases ranging from corruption and theft to land grabs.

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Azam Khan's conviction comes just a week after the Supreme Court ordered the Centre and the governments of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand to crack down on hate speech, warning that any delay would invite the court's contempt.

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