Sambhal Case: Allahabad High Court To Hear PIL Seeking FIR Against Uttar Pradesh Officials Over Mosque Violence

A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Allahabad High Court seeking registration of a FIR against police officials and the district magistrate in relation to the death of four individuals in the communal violence that broke out in Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh.

The PIL has been filed by one Mohammed Yusuf, the Secretary of Hazrat Khwaja Garib Nawaz Association, through Advocates Saher Naqvi and Mohd. Arif, reported Bar&Bench.

The communal clashes erupted after a Sambhal civil court, on 19 November, directed an advocate commissioner to conduct a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid.

The direction was issued in response to a plea filed by Advocate Hari Shankar Jain and seven others who claimed that the mosque was constructed over a demolished temple during the Mughal era.

Violence erupted between protestors and police personnel on November 24 after a team of surveyors arrived in Chandausi town to conduct a second survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, after the initial survey on November 19.

Four people were killed amid stone-pelting and vehicle-torching incidents that followed the court order. An autopsy had ruled out police firing as the cause of the deaths.

The PIL before the High Court has sought directions to the State to register criminal cases against the Additional Superintendent of Police, the Senior Superintendent of Police (SP), the District Magistrate (DM) and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), among others.

The petitioner has also prayed for a strict order to the Uttar Pradesh government to arrest all erring parties at the earliest.

This is the second PIL before the High Court in relation to the incident. A PIL was filed yesterday before the High Court seeking a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the violence.

A petition was also moved before the Supreme Court seeking a stay in the survey of the mosque. In that case, the top court today, asked the trial court at Sambhal not to take any action pursuant to its order calling for a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid.

The Bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar also called upon the authorities to maintain peace and harmony in the wake of the violence that followed the court order.