Munawar release halted as jail doesn’t get order

Bhopal/Indore: Stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui continued to remain in jail on Saturday, a day after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in a case registered against him in Madhya Pradesh for allegedly hurting religious sentiments

Bhopal/Indore: Stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui continued to remain in jail on Saturday, a day after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in a case registered against him in Madhya Pradesh for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.

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Officials of the Indore Central Jail, where Faruqui has been lodged for at least a month, said the 32-year-old was not released as they had not received an order from the Prayagraj court, which had also issued a production warrant against the comedian for allegedly offending religious feelings through his jokes. The top court had also restrained UP police from arresting him.

“Faruqui was not released from Indore Central Jail as the jail administration didn’t receive any order from the Prayagraj trial court for staying the production warrant,” said LKS Bhadoriya, additional superintendent, Indore central Jail.

Faruqui’s advocate Anshuman Srivastava said, “The Supreme Court certified copy has not been uploaded yet so the jail authorities didn’t receive the order. We have approached the district court in Indore and also the trial court in Prayagraj. ”

Faruqui’s cousin Zaid Pathan, who reached Indore on Saturday morning, said the jail authorities were not giving them proper answers. “We have been waiting here since morning but the jail administration is not giving any satisfactory answer. Even after the apex court granted him bail, the authorities are not ready to free him,” he said.