Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan was on Friday disqualified as MLA of the Rampur Sadar seat a day after he was convicted in a 2019 hate speech case, PTI reported.

The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly secretariat took the decision on the basis of a 2013 Supreme Court judgement which held that an MLA, MLC or MP convicted in a criminal case and jailed for a minimum of two years will lose membership of the House with immediate effect.

Khan was sentenced to three years in jail and fined Rs 2,000 by an Uttar Pradesh court on Thursday.

On Friday, the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Principal Secretary Pradeep Dubey told PTI that the Assembly Secretariat has declared the Rampur Sadar Assembly seat as vacant.

The hate speech case against Khan pertains to comments made by him against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath in 2019.

Akash Saxena, an advocate and a Bharatiya Janata Party leader had filed the case alleging that the Samajwadi Party leader was trying to incite violence between Hindus and Muslims.

Khan had been booked under the Indian Penal Code Sections 153A (promoting enmity between two groups) and 505(1) (statement conducing to public mischief), along with provisions of the Representative of People Act, 1951.

In May, Khan was released from a jail in Sitapur after being in custody for over two years in connection with a land-grabbing case. The Supreme Court had given him interim bail in the case where he was accused of illegally acquiring a 13.84-hectare plot in Rampur district for constructing the Mohammed Ali Jauhar University.

Khan currently faces over 90 other charges, including corruption and theft, in various cases.