Over 35 booked for violating Sec 144 for ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ recital in Aligarh

Five named persons, including the Aligarh unit media in-charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and around 30 unidentified others were booked for violating Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) here on Tuesday night, said police. The accused persons gathered at the busy Centre Point area in the heart of the city and recited the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’, said cops.

“The accused gathered at a public place despite prohibition on such gatherings being in force in the city (CrPC Section 144 prohibits gathering of four or more persons). They were booked under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (offence of disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant),” said Anil Samania, circle officer (III) Aligarh.

Police said that after the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ recital, the activists, mostly from the BJP, also raised slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Har Har Mahadev’. Some reportedly raised slogans in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 too.

Meanwhile, Dr Nishit Sharma, BJP’s Aligarh unit media in-charge and one of the named accused in the FIR, said, “Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC are in force on Fridays too yet they are violated (referring to gatherings for offering ‘namaz’). So, it is illegal that the local police booked us for reciting ‘Hanuman Chalisa’.”