In Uttar Pradesh, the election authorities lodged a FIR last night in Thana Bhawan police station of Shamli district against senior minister Azam Khan for his hate speech. Mr Khan, while addressing a political gathering in Jalalabad town of Shamli on 9th April, had reportedly made some remarks which amounted to violation of model code of conduct. Taking the cognizance of the hate speech, the ECI has lodged the case against him under three different sections of IPC.

AIR Lucknow correspondent reports that so far two FIRs have been registered against Mr. Khan, one each in Ghaziabad and Shamli districts.The FIR against Mr. Khan in Ghaziabad was filed under Sections promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion and race, imputations and assertions prejudicial to national integration and deliberate and malicious act to outrage religious feelings of the IPC. Besides, the Election Commission has also banned him from making any public appearance and participating in any election meeting during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.