On Friday, the Supreme Court issued a notice in the plea filed by 30-year-old Sonu Mansuri having alleged links with the banned outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) and her ‘boss’ Noorjahan Khan. They have filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking its intervention alleging that they have “fallen victim to communal frenzy,” reports Live Law.
Sonu Mansuri was arrested by Indore police on January 29 for taping the proceedings of a court during a hearing of the case related to Bajrang Dal leader Tanu Sharma in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district. Sonu Mansuri, who was posing as a junior advocate, later told the police that an advocate named Noorjahan Khan had asked her to make the video to be sent to the Islamic outfit PFI and she was given Rs 3 lakhs for the work.
Both Noorjahan and Sonu Mansuri have now approached the apex court claiming that they have been implicated in “false, baseless, politically motivated and communally charged cases at the behest of the local organisations having affiliations to the current political dispensation in the state of Madhya Pradesh.”
The duo approached the Apex Court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India asserting their right to life and liberty.
Claims made in the petition filed by PFI-linked woman arrested for recording court proceedings of Bajrang Dal leader in Indore
Notably, the petition filed by the women claimed that on January 28, 2023, Bajrang Dal supporters accompanied by a group of lawyers associated with the Adhivakta Sangh (lawyers outfit), manhandled Sonu Mansuri inside the courtroom accusing her of secretly recording bail proceedings of a Bajrang Dal leader.
The plea further read that the miscreants violently frisked Sonu Mansuri and stole a big sum of money as well as a phone from her hands.
Further, it claimed that instead of taking action against the perpetrators, the Indore police took the woman to the police station and filed an FIR against her on the basis of a complaint alleging that she was working for the banned Islamic outfit PFI. She was then arrested, brought before a court on January 29, and placed on judicial remand until February 1.
It said that owing to a lack of legal representation, the woman, who had been placed in police custody in the interim, is now in judicial custody.
The petition urged the Supreme Court to order an independent investigation into the incident. The plea also requested that the State government issue directives to ensure the petitioners’ safety. Since, apparently, an FIR had been registered also against Noorjahan Khan, who identified herself as a lawyer, the petition pleaded to stay her arrest.
Female ‘advocate’ linked to PFI caught recording video, VHP calls it an indication of a bigger conspiracy
In reality, the lawyers for the Bajrang Dal leader, whose hearing was taking place, had caught Sonu Mansuri red-handed filming the events. OpIndia has access to footage of Mansuri, who was caught filming court proceedings in court number 42 of the Indore district court. She was arrested and turned over to the police.
In the video, in was revealed, that she was carrying lakhs of unaccounted cash and a few documents. The woman was identified as Sonu Mansuri. It was alleged in the video that one Advocate Noojahan Khan had sent her to record the video. Mansuri, who identified herself as a junior advocate, claimed that she was regularly sent to the courtrooms by Jahan. It is unclear for what purpose she recorded the video and if she had done it before.
When asked if she had sent the recording to Noorjahan, she denied it. Mansuri first claimed the money belonged to her, then said it was to give someone. However, during the investigation, the Indore police found several call recordings in Mansoori’s mobile, in which instructions have been given by her bosses. The police had also said that Sonu Mansoori was changing her statement repeatedly during interrogation.
Speaking to News Agency Press Trust of India (PTI), Additional Commissioner of Police Rajesh Raghuvanshi said that an advocate asked Mansuri to record the video and gave Rs 3 lakh for the work. She recorded the video during the hearing of the case related to Bajrang Dal leader Tanu Sharma. She was caught by Advocate Amit Pandey and Sunil Vishwakarma, representing Sharma.
He said the video was supposed to be sent to PFI via advocate Noorjahan Khan, who sent Monsoori to record the video.
Calling it an indication of a bigger conspiracy, Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) state president Sohan Vishwakarma demanded a detailed investigation into the matter.
Indore Hindu lawyer who caught the ‘advocate’ read-handed and opposed her bail plea receives ‘sar tan se juda’ threats
In February, days after Sonu Mansuri was arrested, Anil Naidu one of the lawyers who had caught her filming the bail hearing proceedings of Bajrang Dal leader Tannu Sharma and had also opposed her bail plea in court, received ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ threats.
OpIndia had reported that on February 4, Anil Naidu was on his way to the court on his bike, when two unknown miscreants accosted him on Sanjay Setu bridge in the Central Kotwali police station area of Indore and threatened to behead him. They threatened the advocate with the same fate as Kanhaiya Lal, the Hindu tailor who was ruthlessly beheaded in Udaipur by Islamists for supporting former BJP leader Nupur Sharma. While hurling vile abuses and threatening him with dire consequences, the accused allegedly referenced Sonu Mansuri and the absconding female lawyer Noorjahan Khan and warned him to stay out of their case.
