Sambhal violence: Court rejects interim bail to Shahi Jama Masjid president

Sambhal: A local court on Thursday rejected the interim bail plea of Shahi Jama Masjid president Zafar Ali and scheduled the hearing for his regular bail plea on April 2, officials said.

Additional District Judge II Nirbhay Narayan Rai dismissed the plea after hearing arguments from both sides. According to Additional District Government Counsel Hariom Prakash Saini, Ali's lawyer sought interim bail, but the prosecution strongly opposed it, citing serious charges against him, including assembling a mob, inciting violence, damaging public property, and fabricating facts. The court, after considering these arguments, denied Ali interim bail and set April 2 for the regular bail hearing.

Ali was arrested on March 23 following an investigation into the violence that erupted on November 24 during protests against a court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era mosque. On the day of his arrest, a court in Chandausi also denied his bail plea and sent him to two days of judicial custody at Moradabad Jail.

The charges against Ali include multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, such as 191(2) and 191(3) (rioting), 190 (every member of an unlawful assembly guilty of an offense committed in pursuit of a common objective), 221 (obstructing a public servant in the discharge of duties), 125 (acts endangering life or personal safety), 132 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from duty), 196 (promoting enmity between different groups based on religion, race, place of birth, residence, or language), 230 (giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction of a capital offense), and 231 (giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction of an offense punishable by life imprisonment). He has also been charged under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

Ali has denied the allegations, claiming he was falsely implicated. His elder brother, Tahir Ali, accused the police of deliberately jailing him before a judicial panel could record his testimony.

The Uttar Pradesh government had set up the panel to probe the violence that resulted in four deaths and multiple injuries during protests over the mosque survey. The Mughal-era Jama Masjid has been at the center of a legal dispute after a petition claimed it was built on the site of an ancient Hindu temple. Violence broke out on November 24 in Sambhal’s Kot Garvi locality during the survey of the mosque.

With PTI inputs