[Breaking] There Is No Material To Prove that Tablighi Jamaat Members Indulged in Activities Which Are Likely To Spread COVID: Bombay HC [Read Order]

The Bombay High Court (Nagpur Bench) on Monday (21st September) quashed the FIR and the charge sheet filed against 8 Myanmar Nationals (booked for 'Tablighi activities') while observing that "allowing the prosecution to continue would be nothing but an abuse of the process of the Court, especially because of lack of evidence supporting the charges levelled against the foreigners.""It is also not disputed that they were kept in isolation from 24.03.2020 till 31.03.2020 under the supervision of Dr Khawaj, NMC Zonal Officer, Mominpura, Nagpur. There is no material on record to prove that applicants had indulged in any act which was likely to spread infection of COVID -19".The Bench of Justice V. M. Deshpande and Justice Amit B. Borkar ordered thus, while noting (from the statements of the witnesses) that 8 Myanmar Nationals only read the Quran and offered Namaz at a local mosque.The Court took into account the fact that they do not even know Hindi and therefore, there could be no question of them of engaging any religious discourse or speech.Facts Submissions of the ApplicantsThe applicants are nationals of Myanmar, who had obtained Tourist Visa on arrival from Kolkata Airport to visit India and to attend religious seminars in India.They landed in India on 02.03.2020. On 02.03.2020 itself, the applicants took a flight to Delhi and stayed in Delhi till 05.03.2020.On 06.03.2020, the applicants reached Nagpur at 11 p.m. On 08.03.2020, online C-Form was prepared under the Foreigner Regional Registration Office and its hard copy was submitted on 09.03.2020 to Muslim Cell, Special Branch, Police Control Room, Nagpur, FRRO and State Intelligence Department, Nagpur.On 11.03.2020 the entire schedule of the activities of the applicants was given to Police Station, Gittikhadan. They stayed under the jurisdiction of Police Station, Gittikhadan till 21.03.2020.The Government of India called for Janta Curfew on 22.03.2020. At 06.30 am on 22.03.2020 the applicants were shifted to Markaz Center at Mominpura, Nagpur within the jurisdiction of Police Station, Tahsil and the information to that effect was provided to the Police Station but, the acknowledgement was not obtained due to Janta Curfew.Police Station, Tahsil informed the applicants that they should remain in isolation at Markaz Center at Mominpura and the ladies were kept in a private residence at Bhankhed.During their stay from 24.03.2020 till 31.03.2020, Dr Kkhawaja, NMC Zonal Officer, Mominpura along with his team and Police had visited the applicants.On 03.04.2020, at about 03.30 p.m. all the applicants were sent to institutional quarantine at M.L.A. Hostel, Civil Lines, Nagpur and all the applicants had undergone a test for Covid-19, which turned out to be negative.On 05.04.2020, the applicants were informed that the F.I.R. has been registered against them under the provisions of the Foreigners Act, the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and the Disaster Management Act, 2005.The applicants were formally arrested during the institutional quarantine period. The non-applicant/State thereafter carried out an investigation and filed charge-sheet under Sections 188, 269, 270 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, Section 3 of the Epidemic Disease Act, 1987 and Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The applications, therefore, have filed the present application.It was submitted that during the quarantine period, the applicants had undergone a medical test for Covid-19 and they were found to be negative. Therefore, there was no question of spreading infection as contemplated in Sections 269 and 270 of the Indian Penal Code.It was further submitted that there are no restrictions on foreigners from attending religious gatherings in India under the conditions of Tourist Visa and therefore, there is no violation of Section 14 of the Foreigners Act.Court's Analysis and DecisionThe court perused the statement of the witnesses made available by way of charge-sheet and then the Court observed that on 19.03.2020 and 20.03.2020, the applicants studied Quran and Hadis and offered Namaz. They acquainted themselves about Indian Muslim culture.The Court Further observed,"Since the applicants were not conversant with the local language, they studied Quaran and Hadis in their language. The statements of witnesses make it clear that there is no material produced by the prosecution to prove that the applicants were engaged in tabligh work and they were involved in preaching religious ideology or making speeches in religious places. There is no material produced by the prosecution in the charge-sheet which even prima-facie proves contravention of condition no. 1.25 or 19.8 of the Visa Manual." (emphasis supplied)The Court further remarked,"On the contrary, from the statements of the witnesses mentioned in the charge-sheet, it is clear that the applicants are not conversant with local language and they studied the Quran and Hadis in their language. From the...

[Breaking] There Is No Material To Prove that Tablighi Jamaat Members Indulged in Activities Which Are Likely To Spread COVID: Bombay HC [Read Order]

Sparsh Upadhyay

"It is also not disputed that they were kept in isolation from 24.03.2020 till 31.03.2020 under the supervision of Dr Khawaj, NMC Zonal Officer, Mominpura, Nagpur. There is no material on record to prove that applicants had indulged in any act which was likely to spread infection of COVID -19."

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