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Sambhal violence: HC declines to quash FIR against SP MP
The MP had filed the writ petition in the Allahabad high court seeking a stay on his arrest in connection with the recent FIR lodged against him.
The Allahabad high court on Friday declined to quash the FIR lodged against Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal Zia-ur- Rehman Barq for delivering a provocative speech, which allegedly led to the recent violence in Sambhal during the second round of a local court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid on November 24.
However, the court has made it clear that as the offence was punishable with up to seven years’ imprisonment only, there should not be a routine arrest as per the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in the case of Arunesh Kumar and also section 35 of Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
Disposing of the writ petition, a division bench comprising Justice Rajiv Gupta and Justice Mohd Azhar Husain Idrisi observed, “We have perused the FIR, which prima facie discloses the cognizable offence against the petitioner and therefore, the prayer made to quash the FIR cannot be entertained and as such, we are of the view that no interference is warranted.”
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“However, considering the fact that all the offences, complained of in the impugned FIR, are punishable with a term up to 7 years, therefore, in case of effecting the arrest of the petitioner in pursuance of the impugned FIR, it is directed that the respondents/ authorities shall ensure that the specific provisions contained in section 35 of BNSS and the guidelines issued by the apex court in the case of Arnesh Kumar Vs. State of Bihar reported in (2014) 8 SCC 273,” the bench added.
The Samajwadi Party MP had filed the writ petition in the Allahabad high court seeking a stay on his arrest in connection with the recent FIR lodged against him by the police relating to Sambhal violence. Along with this, he also sought quashing of the FIR.
The first information report was registered against Barq by the police in connection with November 24, 2024 violence in Sambhal.
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Barq was accused of instigating people that led to the violence which killed four people and left dozens injured. The police alleged that the MP’s provocative speech was the reason behind the violence during the survey at Shahi Jama Masjid.
During the court proceedings, the counsel for the petitioner Imran Ullah pleaded innocence, saying that Sambhal MP was wrongly implicated in the matter. According to his counsel, he was not present at the place of the incident, yet he was named an accused in the FIR. In November, a suit was filed before the civil judge, Sambhal, claiming that a Harihar temple once stood at the site where Shahi Jama Masjid is situated. In the suit, he had sought a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid.
While entertaining the suit, the civil judge, Sambhal on November 19, 2024 directed survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid by an advocate commissioner.
On November 24, violence erupted in Sambhal district during the second round of the survey.
