The Allahabad High Court directed the jail superintendent of Central Jail, Etawah, to ensure that a prisoner’s religious practice of offering prayers five times a day during Ramadan was not obstructed while allowing him to keep a Quran in his possession. The order was issued in response to a petition filed by Uzma Abid, the wife of murder convict Farhan Ahmed, who is lodged in the high-security section of the prison, alleging that her husband was being prevented from following his religious practices during Ramadan and was denied access to the Quran.
The government counsel informed the court that the matter would be examined in accordance with legal provisions, and the court subsequently disposed of the petition while emphasising that routine security measures within the jail would continue. Ahmed was convicted last year in the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Raju Pal and two others, a case that stemmed from political rivalry and was investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Raju Pal was killed on January 25, 2005, when he was attacked by armed assailants in Prayagraj’s Dhoomanganj area, leading to his death along with two associates while three others sustained injuries. The murder case included former MP Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf among the accused, both of whom died before the verdict was delivered and a CBI court in Lucknow convicted six individuals, including Ahmed, in the case last year.