‘Falsely implicated’: HC quashes Covid-Markaz case against 2 Muslims
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New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against two Muslim youths who were booked during the COVID-19 pandemic for visiting the Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi, holding that the case was based on prejudice, speculation and assumptions rather than evidence.
"Thus, it is crystal clear that the applicants have been falsely implicated in the case with false and frivolous allegations due to ulterior motive and malafide intently and only on the basis of presumption and assumption,” the Live Law quoted the court.
The case was registered by Shahganj police in Jaunpur on April 2, 2020, alleging that the two men had visited the Tablighi Jamaat headquarters during the pandemic and could have contributed to the spread of the coronavirus. The youths had travelled to Delhi to attend a religious gathering before the nationwide lockdown came into force.
The court noted that the allegations were built around the possibility that the petitioners might have contracted COVID-19 and subsequently transmitted it to others. However, both men tested negative for the virus. They were medically examined and placed in quarantine before the criminal case was initiated.
The proceedings invoked provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including Sections 188, 269 and 307, along with provisions of the Disaster Management Act and the Epidemic Diseases Act.
A bench led by Justice Dr Gautam Chaudhary found that the allegations lacked a factual basis and that the criminal proceedings could not be sustained merely on assumptions concerning the men's visit to the Markaz.
The ruling comes against the backdrop of several COVID-era cases involving Tablighi Jamaat members. The Delhi High Court had earlier quashed proceedings arising from 16 FIRs against 70 people, including cases alleging that foreign nationals had stayed at mosques in Delhi during the pandemic.