Shia Body Moves Allahabad High Court Against UP Police's 'Forced' Removal Of Ali Khamenei Portraits, FIRs Against Mourners

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea, moved by Majlis Ulema-e-Hind through its General Secretary, Maulana Syed Kalbe Jawad Naqvi, seeks a direction to the State Police machinery not to take any coercive action or detain individuals who are peacefully participating in religious mourning or displaying portraits of spiritual leaders.

At the outset, the petition refers to the killing of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran and the Marja-e-Taqlid revered by the global Twelver Shia community, in an Israeli airstrike on Tehran on February 28, 2026.

It states that after his death was officially confirmed by the Iranian government on March 1, 2026, the members of the Shia community across India, including in Uttar Pradesh, held peaceful mourning assemblies and displayed his portraits as "an expression of religious grief and solidarity".

However, it alleges that the local police administration responded with disproportionate police action against the community, including the lodging of the FIRs against peaceful mourners.

The PIL plea refers to a Saharanpur incident on March 3, 2026, in which the local Police lodged an FIR under the provisions of the BNSS against 26 named individuals and more than 150 unidentified persons.

This action was purportedly taken solely for holding a peaceful nighttime mourning procession (Shok Julus) without prior administrative permission or any specific law-and-order threat having materialised.

The PIL plea further refers to the May 29 incident, which took place in Unnao, wherein the police personnel went to a private residence and they compelled the homeowners to take down a peaceful religious poster of Khamenei captioned 'Our Leader, Our Pride' from their outer wall.

It claims that officials publicly stated this was done ahead of Muharram to manage 'public sentiment,' despite admitting that no written order under Section 163 BNSS was in place.

The petitioner's body argues that these actions directly violate fundamental rights, as forcing residents to remove non-violent, symbolic portraits is an unconstitutional intrusion and an arbitrary exercise of executive power.

According to the plea, the inner or outer wall of a citizen's private home is a "sacrosanct zone of personal liberty and private property" protected under Articles 21 and 300A of the Constitution of India.

The organization further contends that the freedom to express grief, sympathy and spiritual solidarity through peaceful assembly falls squarely under Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b). The executive cannot curtail these rights in the absence of an imminent and verified threat to public order, it states.

Furthermore, the petition compares the position of a Marja-e-Taqlid, both textually and culturally, to that of the Pope in the Christian world.

Equating his peaceful commemoration with a security threat is called a “direct intrusion upon the religious conscience of the community” and a violation of the religious freedom guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26, the plea argues.

It adds that the customary practice of Azadari, including the carrying of banners and portraits, has been observed by the Shia community in Uttar Pradesh for generations.

The plea also points out that the Union of India, through the Ministry of External Affairs, has formally recognised the deceased leader's international stature by extending official condolences and participating in diplomatic mourning protocols.

The petitioner states that it is legally and constitutionally untenable for the local police machinery to treat ordinary citizens' expressions of identical sentiment as penal objectionable when the sovereign country itself deemed the sentiment diplomatically appropriate.

The plea states that the petitioner's body had submitted a detailed representation to the state's highest home and police authorities on June 12, 2026.

However, receiving no response or remedial action, the body states that it has approached the High Court to prevent a reasonably apprehended "chilling effect" on the community's upcoming Muharram-ul-Haram observances.

The PIL prays for a direction to the District Police Heads, SPs, and SHOs in the state to desist from taking any coercive action or executing detentions against individuals peacefully displaying portraits of global spiritual leaders or participating in assemblies of religious mourning.

It also prays that the police machinery be immediately restrained from interfering with, dismantling, or seeking the removal of portraits, banners, or visual representations of recognised global spiritual leaders, including Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Al-Sistani, when displayed lawfully and peacefully by citizens on the walls, gates, or precincts of their private residential properties or private commercial establishments.