On January 31, the Supreme Court has agreed to list the plea of a former Rajya Sabha member Mohammad Adeeb seeking contempt action against top Haryana government officials for allegedly failing to ensure no disruptions in offering Friday ‘namaz’ in Gurugram.
The bench comprising of Chief Justice NV Ramana, Justice AS Bopanna and Justice Hima Kohli took cognizance of the plea submitted by advocate Indira Jaising who was appearing for Adeeb. In the plea, Adeeb alleged the state government officials did not follow the 2018 judgment of the Supreme Court, where directions were issued to stop hate crimes.
In her submission, Jaising said the plea was not based on newspaper reports, but they have themselves filed the complaints. “We are not asking for any enforcement of FIR. This court has laid down preventive measures,” she added. The CJI said he would look into it and post it before the appropriate bench immediately.
The plea was submitted on behalf of the Gurgaon Muslim Council, headed by Mohammad Adeeb, on December 17 last year. In the plea, he had said, “The continuous inaction, the apathy of the State machinery and failure of the local law enforcement agencies to prevent such incidents before these spiral into a monstrosity, is precisely what had been indicated by this Hon’ble court in Tehseen S. Poonawalla case, and is thus clearly a contempt of this Hon’ble court’s directions.”
Hindus protest against namaz in public
For months in 2021, Hindus in Gurugram, Haryana, raised their voice against Friday namaz in public spaces like parks and playgrounds. Residents allege that people face inconvenience due to huge gatherings on Friday. They were drawing attention to increased cases of harassment, chain snatching and traffic disruptions that happen due to public places being occupied by large groups of Muslims. They had alleged the public land was being occupied on the pretext of namaz. The Police initially detained members of Hindu outfits and residents of the areas nearby.
The issue was soon turned political, with several ‘secular-liberal’ voices advocating that Muslims have the right to occupy public places for Namaz. The Haryana government, which had earlier granted permission for the use of certain public spaces for Namaz, had later withdrawn the permission and had asked the Muslim groups to keep their prayers confined to religious spaces like Mosques, Dargahs and Waqf properties.
The 2018 judgment sought the appointment of nodal officers in Police Departments across states
The earlier judgment that Adeeb has mentioned in the plea was passed on Tehseen Poonawala’s plea. The apex court had asked the Centre and the states to take steps, including fast-tracking trials, victim compensation, deterrent punishment and disciplinary action against the officials for not performing their duties.
The court had also asked the states to appoint a nodal officer not below the rank of the police superintendent. The nodal officers would set up a task force to be assisted by DSP-rank officers to take measures to prevent lynching and mob violence. The task force was supposed to gather information on people who may commit such crimes or who were involved in spreading hate speeches or fake speeches.
