Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has declined to stay the non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued against cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan in 2010 Bareilly riot case.
However, the court directed Khan to appear before the trial court on or before March 27 and apply for bail. It directed the trial court to decide his bail application strictly in accordance with law.
The court said that the NBW till then shall not be executed against him only with a view to giving him an opportunity to appear before the court below.
The court also expunged certain remarks made by an additional sessions judge of Bareilly in one of his orders pertaining to the 2010 Bareilly riots case in which he had praised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The court in its order on Tuesday said, “I have gone through the order under challenge whereby learned trial court while passing the impugned order mentioned certain unwarranted expressions containing political overtones and personal views… Besides this, he has also shared his personal experiences in the said order which is not at all required while passing judicial order,” it said.
The court said it is not expected from the judicial officer to express or depict his personal or pre-conceived notions or inclinations in the matter.
The judicial order is meant for public consumption and such type of order is likely to be misconstrued by the masses, said the court.
The court then said, “It is expected from a judicial officer that he should use a very guarded expression while focusing upon the issue in hand and should not use any observations which are tangent or alien to the core issue.”
