Overview
- Justice Sameer Jain announced in open court that he would no longer hear cases related to Azam Khan and gave no reason for stepping aside.
- The interim order restraining the Rampur trial court from pronouncing its final judgment will continue until the next listing.
- The matter has been released from his board and will be placed before another bench after administrative allocation by the Chief Justice.
- The prosecutions stem from 12 FIRs filed in 2019–2020 over an alleged October 15, 2016 demolition at Yateem Khana, later consolidated into Special Case No. 45 of 2020 with IPC charges including dacoity, house trespass and criminal conspiracy.
- The High Court petition challenges the trial court’s May 30 refusal to recall key witnesses, including Sunni Central Waqf Board chairman Zafar Ahmad Farooqui, or to allow video evidence, and Justice Jain had granted Azam Khan bail on September 10.