E-Paper
Bombay HC extends pre-arrest bail of man who criticised Tablighi Jamaat
The Bombay high court (HC) has extended by eight weeks the interim protection from arrest of a man who had been booked after uploading a video in which he made allegations
The Bombay high court (HC) has extended by eight weeks the interim protection from arrest of a man who had been booked after uploading a video in which he made allegations against Tablighi Jamaat. The man, Abuzar Shaikh, was booked under section 295 (destroying, damaging or defiling a place of worship or sacred object with intent to insult the religion of any class of persons) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
On May 4, the court had granted him protection after it was informed that the man was wrongly implicated and in fact had lodged a non-cognisable offence against members of the Tablighi Jamaat for assaulting him.
The bench of justice SS Jadhav while hearing the pre-arrest plea of Shaikh through advocate Vishal Saxena was informed that his client had been critical of the Tablighi Jamaat for holding an event in New Delhi amid the coronavirus outbreak. Saxena submitted that Shaikh had to bear the brunt of his criticism and was allegedly assaulted and spat on by the members of Jamaat, about which he had uploaded a video on social media.
After the video was uploaded, the members of Tablighi Jamaat filed a complaint against Shaikh at Shahunagar police station. He was also booked for criminal defamation and other penal provisions, based on the complaint made by members of the religious group. Saxena informed the court that Shaikh had also filed a complaint against the members of Tablighi Jamaat and as he was falsely implicated, he should be granted pre-arrest bail.
After the police sought further time to complete investigations into the counter complaints, the court extended Shaikh interim protection from arrest for eight weeks and directed that in the event of arrest, the petitioner should be released on bail on furnishing personal bond of ₹25,000.
