Delhi High Court Issues Notice On Pleas By 10 Indian Nationals Seeking Quashing Of FIRs Related To Tablighi Jamaat

The Delhi High Court has issued notice on a plea seeking the quashing of FIRs related to the Tablighi Jamaat incident against 10 Indian nationals. The court has sought the Delhi government's response on the Section 482 CrPC application.

The petition has been filed impugning FIR No. 74/2020 registered under Sections 188, 269, 270, 120-B of the Indian Penal Code,1860.

The petitioners state that the FIR and the entirety of legal proceedings stemming therefrom, is wholly unwarranted, concocted and untenable in law, and further that the petitioners have been compelled to face unwarranted and unsubstantiated charges, infringing upon their personal liberty.

They allege that the FIR was lodged against them only on the basis of their alleged presence at Choti Masjid, Fatak Teliyan during the nation-wide lockdown imposed in light of Covid-19, and further state that there was "no shred of evidence" to initiate such a case against them.

The petitioners also claimed that a bare perusal of the FIR would indicate that the only allegations against them was their alleged presence inside the Masjid along-with foreign nationals, however, there was no whisper of either any religious/social gathering being held inside the Masjid or of the petitioners being Covid-19 positive.

The petition has been filed through Advocates Ashima Mandla and Mandakini Singh.