Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court has closed the contempt case against Bareilly District Magistrate and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) for restricting Muslims from offering namaz at a private property in an Uttar Pradesh village.
The contempt of court case was initiated because Bareilly authorities were accused of failing to comply with the High Court ruling allowing the prayers.
The case pertains to the authorities in Mohammad Ganj village issuing a challan against the property owner for holding prayers. Simultaneously, a group of 12 Muslim men was arrested for offering Friday prayers inside the empty house on January 18.
Following this, a division bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Siddharth Nandan ruled that no permission was required for conducting religious prayer meetings at a private property in Uttar Pradesh.
A contempt case was initiated after a village resident accused Bareilly authorities of failing to comply with the High Court ruling, alleging they continued to interfere with prayers offered at his residence.
The bench had summoned the District Magistrate and SSP of Bareilly and granted protection for the house owner, Haseen Khan.
The matter was listed for March 25 with a renewed bench after a recent roster change.
At the hearing, the court expressed satisfaction with the officials’ explanations and released them from contempt proceedings.
Misusing protection to gather large number of devotees: HC
The bench, however, stated that the petitioner was “misusing” the protection provided by the court and gathering at least 52-62 persons to offer namaz at the property.
“If such practice continued, it could be detrimental to the peace and tranquility of the area, and under the garb of personal protection, this cannot be permitted,” the court noted.
The court stated that since the authorities are obliged to maintain law and order, they “have no option but to take action” if there is a possibility of disturbance.
The High Court disposed of the petition, trusting that the petitioner would abide by his statement of “not collecting a large number of persons to offer namaz at the property.”
If the petitioner is found violating the undertaking and if there is a threat to peace and tranquility in the area, the respondents’ authorities are at liberty to act in accordance with law, the bench said.
The Allahabad High Court directed the concerned Station House Officer to withdraw the challan issued against the petitioners and other individuals. The authorities were also asked to withdraw the security provided to Haseen Khan after his counsel submitted that he no longer required it.
