A local court in Sambhal has refused to grant interim bail to Zafar Ali, the president of Shahi Jama Masjid, in connection with his alleged involvement in the violent protests that occurred last November. The court has scheduled his regular bail hearing for April 2.
Additional district judge II Nirbhay Narayan Rai, after hearing the interim bail application, sided with the prosecution which argued against granting bail due to the gravity of the charges. These include assembling a mob, inciting violence, damaging public property, and fabricating facts, as outlined by additional district government counsel Hariom Prakash Saini.
Zafar Ali was taken into custody on March 23 following an investigation into the November 24 violence, which broke out during a protest against a court-ordered survey of the historic Mughal-era mosque. Following his arrest, a Chandausi court had previously rejected Ali’s bail plea and remanded him to two days of judicial custody in Moradabad Jail.
The charges against Ali span several severe sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, encompassing rioting, obstructing public servants, promoting enmity between different groups, and endangering public safety, among others. He is also accused under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
Despite the charges, Ali maintains his innocence, asserting that he has been wrongly implicated. His elder brother, Tahir Ali, has accused the police of deliberately incarcerating him prior to a judicial panel’s review, which was established by the Uttar Pradesh government to investigate the circumstances leading to the deadly unrest. This unrest led to the deaths of four individuals and injuries to several others.
The survey and subsequent violence have spotlighted the Shahi Jama Masjid as a focal point of significant contention. A petition preceding the events claimed that the mosque site housed an ancient Hindu temple, leading to heightened tensions in the Kot Garvi locality of Sambhal.
