New Delhi: The Allahabad high court has sought the reply of the Uttar Pradesh government on a plea filed by The Wire and two of its journalists — Seraj Ali and Mukul Singh Chauhan — seeking the quashing of an FIR registered against them for a video report on the demolition of the Gareeb Nawaz Al Maroof Mosque in Barabanki.
The FIR was registered against The Wire and its journalists under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 505 (1) (b) (with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).
The bench of Justice Ramesh Singh and Justice Saroj Yadav has sought the reply of the UP government by October 21.
Apart from Ali, Chauhan and The Wire, the FIR also names Mohammad Anees, secretary of the mosque committee, and Mohammad Naeem, one of the local residents that The Wire spoke to in the video. The FIR had been lodged on the basis of a complaint lodged by a police officer Mahendra Singh.
The video in question was shot in Ram Snehi Ghat and published on The Wire‘s YouTube channel on June 22, 2021. It was uploaded as a story on The Wire‘s website and tweeted the next day.
In the video report, The Wire spoke to local residents and committee members of the mosque who describe how the police had allegedly assaulted the residents in front of their family members, two months before the demolition was carried out. This incident took place on March 20 when protests broke out against the administration’s plan to demolish a mosque, leading to FIRs against 180 people under serious charges, including attempt to murder.
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On May 17, the district administration conducted the demolition, taking down the mosque, saying it was an “illegal structure”.
But the Gareeb Nawaz Al Maroof Mosque had been around for at least six decades, according to electricity bills held by its committee members, and was registered with the UP Sunni Waqf Board, The Wire had reported. Even in the video report, one of the committee members explained the same.
Aftab Ahmad, the lawyer who is representing their case, said the manner in which the demolition was carried out is ‘totally illegal’ and is not expected from the state or the state authorities.
In fact, a few days after the demolition, the Allahabad high court issued notice to the station house office, Ram Snehi Ghat police station in Barabanki, saying that it looks like he violated the court’s orders while demolishing the mosque. The high court had earlier ruled that any eviction of demolition orders should remain in abeyance till May 31.
The averments in the plea
According to LiveLaw, the plea states that said the incident of mosque demolition and the various allegations on how the demolition was carried out, were within the common knowledge of the local residents at Ram Sanehi Ghat, Barabanki, and others, and therefore section 505(1)(b) IPC is not made out as there was no question of causing alarm.
The plea also avers that no unrest had been reported after the news reports and the petitioners’ video was published only on 22 June, more than a month after the demolition and publication of these various news reports.
The plea contends that given that the factum of demolition and the allegations made in The Wire’s video were already reported by several news media organisations a month earlier itself, and the same were not refuted by the state authorities, there was no basis for the police to claim that the allegations made in The Wire’s video by the interviewees are false/unverified or that there was any tendency to create public disorder.
Senior advocate I.B. Singh and advocate Surangama Sharma appeared for the petitioners.