The Allahabad High Court has granted protection from arrest to one Muhammad Saghir Khan, who had urged Muslims to seek revenge if the Supreme Court’s 2019 Ayodhya verdict was in favour of the Hindu community.
While granting protection last week, the Allahabad HC bench of Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Saroj Yadav observed that the speech rendered by the petitioner Muhammad Saghir Khan in 2019 does not reflect or urge the Muslims to engage in any criminal conduct by rebelling or using violence.
The court said that the allegations in the FIR did not render any offence under section 124-A of IPC (Sedition). The bench opined: “We prima facie do not find anything which suggests that the petitioner in the meeting addressing the Muslims youths appear to have incited the person present there to create disturbance of public peace by taking recourse to violent means.”
The court was hearing the plea of Muhammad Saghir Khan who had moved the court challenging an FIR registered against him under Sections 124-A, 153, 153-A, 153-B, 505 (1)(b)(c) of IPC.
According to the FIR, prior to SC’s Ayodhya verdict in November 2019, Muhammad Saghir Khan had said: ‘in case the judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court is rendered in favour of one community then Muslims should be ready to take steps to counter the same and that they should take revenge in their own manner’. Khan had also urged his people to circulate the message via Whatsapp.
However, Khan challenged the claims before the court, claiming that the allegations against him were untrue and that he had been needlessly hounded for political and extraneous reasons.
SC hands over the Ayodhya land to Hindus, Islamists cry foul
Interestingly, ever since the apex court handed over the Ayodhya land to Hindus, Islamists have been whining and crying, pointing out that the judgment favouring Hindus was a form of injustice against Muslims.
In a historic judgement ending a dispute spanning centuries, the Supreme Court of India on November 9, 2019, handed over the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri masjid land to the Hindu parties, making way for Hindu devotees to have a grand Ram Mandir at the birthplace of Lord Ram. The Apex court also ordered the union government to provide 5 acres of land at an alternate site at a prominent location in Ayodhya to the Sunni Waqf Board to rebuild the Babri Masjid which was demolished in 1992.
The 5-judge bench of the supreme court delivered a unanimous judgement in the Ram Janmabhoomi case. The top 5 senior judges came to the decision after weighing the arguments presented by all sides for 40 days.
The construction of Bhavya Ram Mandir
After the formation of Ram Mandir Trust in 2020, as per Supreme Court guidelines, the Bhoomi Pujan ceremony was conducted on August 5, 2020, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other religious and political leaders. The foundation work for the temple is almost complete. L&T is taking care of the construction. Ram Mandir is being built using the donations from the devotees from across the country collected via donation drive under the supervision of Ram Mandir Trust. The construction is expected to be completed by December 2023.
