Sambhal violence: SC slaps Rs 10 lakh fine on UP Govt over Mulla Afroz’s illegal detention
The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the Allahabad High Court judgment upholding the preventive detention of Mulla Afroz by UP police, who invoked the National Security Act (NSA) on the accusation of being the “mastermind” behind the 2024 Sambhal protest following a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, and ordered a fine of Rs 10 lakh on the Uttar Pradesh government for the illegal detention.
The Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheel Nagu deemed the invocation of the National Security Act (NSA), 1980 against Afroz on the basis of a confession obtained in custody illegal, while questioning the relevance and evidentiary value of the alleged custodial confession relied upon by the authorities.
Afroz’s arrest was registered 54 days after the incident on the basis of the confession he made in custody, and he had duly secured bail from the Allahabad High Court, but he remained incarcerated after the stringent NSA was invoked against him, following which a preventive detention order was issued on October 13, 2025, allowing the state to keep him in detention.
It was after the Allahabad High Court’s order upholding his detention under the NSA that Afroz moved the Supreme Court to challenge the detention under the NSA.
Afroz is an accused in the case that stems from a protest that happened in UP’s Sambhal when a police team arrived to conduct a court-ordered survey of the historic Shahi Jama Masjid in November 2024, as, along with an excessive police presence, a Hindutva mob had created a ruckus by chanting “Jai Shri Ram,” followed by police firing on the Muslim mob, in which four Muslim youths were killed.
The Supreme Court questioned the public prosecutor representing the UP government during an earlier hearing on September 8 on the plea by Afroz against his NSA detention, asking how a custodial confession could be deemed legal for the “subjective satisfaction” required to invoke preventive detention when the detention was based on a confession obtained in custody.
Afroz also expressed dissent over the UP police investigation into the Sambhal violence in the Supreme Court, saying that no fair investigation had been held into the allegation that it was the police who opened fire at the protesters at first, and sought liberty to file a protest petition over the issue.
Afroz argued that his arrest was based on a confession allegedly obtained in police custody, which is inadmissible in law. Allowing his challenge, the Supreme Court quashed his NSA detention and overturned the Allahabad High Court judgment, directing the Uttar Pradesh government to pay Rs 10 lakh in costs for the illegal detention order.