On Thursday, October 13, the Rajasthan High Court denied bail to Gauhar Chishti, the Khadim of Ajmer Dargah, who had raised slogans of beheading against former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, reported Law Beat. Chishti was arrested by the police from Hyderabad on 14th July 2022.
On June 17, Gauhar Chishti raised slogans of beheading outside the Ajmer dargah. The video of his speech went viral, which allegedly led to the heinous murder of Udaipur’s Hindu tailor Kanhaiya Lal and Umesh Kolhe in Maharashtra.
Rajasthan High Court dismisses bail plea filed by #Ajmer Dargah Cleric Gauhar Chisti who allegedly provoked a crowd of 3000 people to raise #SarTanSeJuda slogan against Nupur Sharma. The video of his speech went viral, which allegedly led to Amravati and Udaipur beheading cases. pic.twitter.com/nvPTF0UIho
— LawBeat (@LawBeatInd) October 13, 2022
Chishti was initially charged under Sections 506, 504, 188, 149, 143, and 117 of the IPC for his objectionable slogans; however, Section 115 read with Section 302 was added to the FIR in light of the cases related to the heinous Udaipur and Amravati beheading.
The bench of Justice Sameer Jain noted that Chishti’s alleged “provocative, vindictive, and motivated slogans put the law and order in jeopardy and caused communal discomfort throughout the country, including unfortunate instances at Amravati and Udaipur.”
The court further stated that the purported recovery of many mobile phones, as well as Chishti’s active arrest from Hyderabad, proved his alleged active participation in the incident.
Aside from that, the court considered the fact that prohibition orders are issued against Chishti on a yearly basis under Section 107 of the CrPC as a preventative measure.
Therefore, while considering the Additional Advocate General’s submission that the aforementioned slogan raised by the Khadim of Ajmer Dargah resulted in the beheading of Kanhaiya Lal and Umesh Kohle, the Court concluded, “it could not be ruled out that if Chisti is released on bail, he can pose a threat to the society at large and affect the law and order situation in the State”.
Notably, Chishti had applied for bail in the High Court, claiming that he is a Khadim in Ajmer and that he was simply performing ‘religious and pious’ activities before the Garib Nawaz.
He claimed that a ‘peaceful’ procession was held with due permission in protest of BJP spokeswoman Nupur Sharma’s remarks.
The AAG, however, argued that Chishti flouted the conditions of permission and raised provocative and religiously charged slogans in front of a crowd of approximately 3000 people in the said protest.
He further stated that video clips of such slogans were widely shared online, leading to the incidents in Udaipur and Amravati, where victims were beheaded because of religious hatred propagated by such slogans, and hence provisions of Section 115 read with Section 302 were added to the FIR.
Furthermore, he informed the court that Chishti is a habitual criminal and that prohibitory orders are issued against him every year as a preventative step to ensure peace and social harmony.
After hearing the arguments presented by both parties the Court observed, “It is observed that the permission was granted to raise protest by way of a ‘peaceful procession’ on the specific condition that the law and order will be maintained and that no provocative religious slogans would be raised. In spite of the same, the applicant arranged for mics and loudspeakers and raised religiously charged slogans before a crowd of 3000 people that were provocative, vindictive and motivated in hate speech”.
He allegedly raised provocative and religiously charged slogans before a crowd of approximately 3000 persons who had gathered in a protest rally related to alleged statements made by BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma (@NupurSharmaBJP).
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) October 13, 2022
Court further said, “moreover, the applicant is alleged to have been actively involved in the incident as the mastermind. In contravention of the categorical directions of the police authorities, the law and order was put in jeopardy and communal discomfort was caused throughout the country, including certain unfortunate incidents at Amravati and Udaipur”.
“It cannot be ruled out that if the applicant is released on bail, he can pose a threat to society at large and affect the law and order situation in the State”, the court added while rejecting Chishti’s bail application.
Links of Khadim Gauhar Chishti of Ajmer Dargah to Kanhaiya Lal’s murderers
Days after the gruesome murder of Kanhaiya Lal, it came to light that a Khadim of Ajmer Dargah named Gauhar Chishti had met one of the killers of the Hindu tailor. Citing sources, journalist Nikhil Choudhary reported that Gauhar had called for the beheading of ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma on June 17 this year for allegedly committing ‘blasphemy’.
After making the provocative speech, he travelled to Udaipur to meet Riyaz Attari, one of the murderers of Kanhaiya Lal. Interestingly, Riyaz issued threats to Sharma and her supporters through a video on the same day. Reportedly, Khadim Gauhar Chisti had asked Riyaz to make the disturbing video after brutally beading the Hindu tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur.
It is notable that Gauhar Chishti was also arrested by the police two years ago for making a video of the CRPF camp, though he was let off at that time with a mere warning.
During the investigation into Kanhaiya Lal’s murder case, it was revealed that some people of the Pakistan-based radical outfit Daawat-e-Islami were in touch with many people in India. Among them, the names of Kanhaiya Lal’s killers Mohammad Riyaz and Gaus Mohammad as well as Khadim Gauhar Chishti of Ajmer Dargah also came up.
Efforts are being made to establish whether Chisti has links with the banned Islamic organisation PFI.
