LUCKNOW, Sept. 24 -- Samajwadi Party founding member and former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan was on Tuesday released on bail from Sitapur jail after spending close to two years behind bars, with party president Akhilesh Yadav saying the veteran leader has "finally got justice". Khan's sons -Adeeb and Abdullah - along with several senior party leaders, including Moradabad lawmaker Ruchi Vira, and hundreds of his supporters and SP workers welcomed the 77-year-old former MP outside the jail, where he was languishing since October 2023. Khan's release was delayed and he walked out of jail around 12.20 pm instead of the scheduled 7am. The development comes days after the Allahabad high court on September 18 granted Khan bail in the Quality Bar land encroachment case in Rampur district. Khan was not initially named in the case, which pertained to the alleged illegal occupation of the bar premises in 2013. His name was added during reinvestigation nearly five years after the FIR was lodged in November 2019. "I thank all those who prayed for me," Khan told reporters in Bareilly while heading to his hometown Rampur. He also dismissed speculations about his joining the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) led by former chief minister Mayawati. "Ask those who are making such claims," Khan said. Speaking to reporters in Lucknow, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav welcomed the court's order, and vowed to withdraw all "false cases" against Khan if his party returned to power in Uttar Pradesh....