The HC also held that foreigners having valid visa to enter India cannot be prevented from visiting masjids. It said that those who were present at Delhi headquarters were chosen to be made scapegoats and slammed the media propaganda to blame them for the Covid-19 spread.
Agencies / Aurangabad ( Mahrashtra)
The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court on Friday struck down criminal cases registered against 34 people, including 28 foreign Tablighi Jamaat members, in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district, saying foreign nationals were virtually persecuted.
“A political Government tries to find scapegoat when there is pandemic or calamity, and the circumstances show that there is probability that these foreigners were chosen to make them scapegoats,” said a bench of Justice TV Nalawade and Justice MG Sewlikar. “The material of the present matter shows that the propaganda against the so-called religious activity was unwarranted.”
The high court said foreigners having valid visas to enter India cannot be prevented from visiting mosques if they go there to observe religious practices.
“It is true that in view of wording of Article 19 [the right to freedom of speech and expression] of the Constitution of India, the freedoms given under this Article are not available to foreigners, a person who is not the citizen of India,” it said. “However, it needs to be kept in mind that when permission is given to the foreigners to come to India under visa, Article 25 [freedom of professing religion] comes in to play. Then Articles 20 and 21 [that relate to fundamental rights] are also available to the foreigners.”
All the foreigners, who petitioned the high court, had participated in the Nizamuddin congregation and thereafter gave religious lectures at mosques in Ahmednagar district allegedly in violation of lockdown norms in the last week of March. Initially, cases were registered against the trustees of mosques where the foreigners had stayed.
All the 34 accused, including the foreigners, moved the high court seeking quashing of the criminal cases registered against them. The foreigners contended they came to India on valid visas and argued they were here mainly to experience Indian culture, tradition, hospitality and food. They said on their arrival at airports, they were screened for Covid-19.
The foreigners argued they were struck in Ahmednagar after the imposition of the nationwide lockdown because of the suspension of the transportation services. They said that is why they stayed at mosques.
The Jamaat came in the news the headlines in March when authorities and a section of media blamed a congregation at its headquarters in New Delhi’s Nizamuddin area for a jump in Covid-19 infections. The headquarters was sealed and thousands of attendees, including foreigners from countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, and the US, were quarantined. Police initially filed a case against Jamaat chief Maulana Saad for violating a ban on big gatherings. He was later booked for culpable homicide, which carries a maximum punishment of 10-year imprisonment.
The Jamaat, maintained many visitors at its headquarters were stranded after the government declared a lockdown to check the pandemic spread. The Centre blacklisted around 1,500 foreign Tablighi members for violating their visa norms and multiple cases were registered against them across the country, including in Maharashtra.
Ahmednagar police maintained the Jamaat members were found preaching and so cases were registered against them. They added the foreigners were arrested after institutional quarantine and subsequently five of them were found to be infected.
