E-Paper
HC stays order to file FIR against ex-Sambhal CO, other cops
CJM’s order came on an application filed by Mohd Yameen, a resident of Sambhal, alleging that his son Alam was selling biscuits on his cart near Shahi Jama Masjid on November 24, 2024, when the police officers started firing at the crowd gathered there to protest the survey of the mosque
PRAYAGRAJ The Allahabad high court on Tuesday stayed a Sambhal court’s order that directed lodging of an FIR against several police officers, including then circle officer Anuj Chaudhary, for allegedly firing upon a crowd during the November 2024 violence.
Justice Samit Gopal passed the order on a petition filed by Chaudhary, who had challenged a January 9 order of then Sambhal chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Vibhanshu Sudheer ordering lodging of an FIR against Chaudhary, then Kotwali in-charge Anuj Tomar, and 20 unknown officers.
The CJM’s order came on an application filed by Mohammed Yameen, a resident of Sambhal, alleging that his son Alam was selling biscuits on his cart near Shahi Jama Masjid on November 24, 2024, when the police officers started firing at the crowd gathered there to protest the survey of the mosque, believed to have been built in 1529. Yameen alleged that his son suffered three bullet wounds, a claim refuted by SP Bishnoi as “baseless”.
Yameen had named Sambhal Kotwali in-charge Anuj Kumar Tomar and CO Chaudhary in the petition, seeking an FIR. CJM Sudheer had observed that police cannot invoke the “official duty” shield for criminal acts.
Chaudhary and the UP government had challenged the order. Representing the state, additional advocate general Manish Goyal contended that the order was legally unsustainable because while ordering the FIR, the CJM failed to adhere to the strict procedural safeguards, which are designed to protect public servants discharging official duties..
