Allahabad High Court refuses to quash case against Muslim Personal Law Board chief

The Allahabad High Court has refused to quash criminal proceedings against Noor Ahmed Ajahri for claiming in 2023 that Muslims were being intimidated in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Justice Saurabh Srivastava said on March 16 that the case could not be dismissed at this stage because the allegations suggested Ajahri’s remarks could incite communal hostility.

The case stems from a video received by police in which Ajahri spoke about the April 2023 killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed.

Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf Ahmed were shot dead on April 15, 2023, while in police custody and being taken to a hospital in Prayagraj for a medical check-up.

According to the police, Ajahri said in the video that the brothers had been killed as part of a conspiracy by the government led by Yogi Adityanath despite a court sentencing them to life imprisonment.

Ajahri also said that the BJP had “trampled the Constitution into the ground”.

An FIR was registered against him in 2023 at Puranpur Police Station. Police initially invoked sections of the Indian Penal Code related to promoting enmity between religious groups and outraging religious feelings.

A chargesheet was later filed under Section 505(2) of the IPC, which deals with statements promoting enmity, hatred or ill will between communities.

Ajahri argued before the court that he had only expressed his views during a public discussion and that his remarks did not fall under Section 505(2). He also alleged that the investigation was unfair and that the magistrate had summoned him without properly examining the evidence.

The High Court rejected his plea, saying it could not conclude that there was no prima facie case against him.