Prayagraj, April 9: The Allahabad High Court has nixed to grant relief to Noor Ahmad Azhari, President of the Muslim Personal Law Board (MPLB) of Uttar Pradesh, who had accused the BJP government of intimidating Muslims in BJP-ruled states and called the Atiq-Ashraf murder case a government conspiracy.
The court dismissed a petition seeking quashing of the entire proceedings in the case filed on charges of inciting religious frenzy and disturbing communal harmony. This order was given by a single bench of Justice Saurabh Srivastava on Thursday.
A video went viral in which Noor Ahmed Azhari, President of the Muslim Personal Law Board of Uttar Pradesh and a resident of Pilibhit, was seen saying that the BJP government of Uttar Pradesh was attempting to intimidate Muslims. The murders of Atiq and Ashraf were a deliberate conspiracy under the government’s rule. In the video, he also claimed that the current government has no faith in the Constitution.
Based on this video, the police registered an FIR. After investigation, a charge sheet was filed for promoting enmity, ill-will, or malicious acts between different religious groups. Azhari filed a petition in the High Court seeking to quash the entire trial.
The petitioner’s lawyer argued that Azhari was expressing the views of the Muslim Personal Law Board in a debate and that his statements did not constitute a crime. However, the Additional Government Advocate, representing the state government, opposed the petition, stating that these facts were evidence and could only be determined during the trial.
The court referred to various Supreme Court decisions and stated that the magistrate only had to determine whether there was sufficient basis to proceed.
The High Court found that, according to the details of the FIR, the applicant was accused of inciting religious incitement and hatred among a particular community, which created a potential disturbance of public peace.