The Ranchi District Bar Association has decided to boycott the court for Magistrate Manish Kumar Singh for his controversial order asking a woman to distribute Quran as a condition for bail.
Talking to media, Secretary of the bar association Kundan Prakash said that they have lodged a complaint with the Judicial Commissioner against the magistrate for the order, and demanded that the bail condition should be withdrawn. They also demanded the transfer of magistrate Manish Kumar Singh from the Ranchi court. Prakash said that although the JC has sought 48 hours to resolve the issue, the bar association has unanimously decided to boycott the court of Manish Singh. No lawyer will work in his court until he is transferred, he asserted.
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Talking about the judgement, Mr Prakash said that this order is disturbing the communal harmony. The situation in the country is already tense, and the magistrate has further instigated the same. ‘I he wants to do politics, he should resign and join some political party. He has behaved like a politician, which is condemnable’, he said. Kundan Prakash added that they have never such a judgement before, and it should be withdrawn suo-moto.
Former Secretary of the bast association Sanjay Vidrohi further added other allegations against magistrate Manish Singh. He said that earlier also they had complained about him with the JC, but the judge used to reject applications of such advocates in court in revenge.
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He said that this order violates the right to religion, right speech of citizens. We have freedom to follow our religion, but nobody can be forced to preach for a religion. He said that there is nothing objectionable in the message posted by Richa Bharti. He also added that police violated norms by arresting the girl without giving a notice, as per provisions of section 41A of the CRPC. The CRPC also does not mention any such condition that can be applied for granting bail, Vidrohi added. He said that the even Muslim advocates have expressed shock at the order of the court.
Richa Bharti was arrested Ranchi police after a complaint was lodged against her Facebook post responding to a video uploaded by popular TikTok personalities regarding the death of Tabrez Ansari in police custody. They were seen propagating hatred by arguing that if Tabrez Ansari’s son takes his revenge tomorrow, Muslims shouldn’t be called terrorists. To this Richa had asked why only Muslims think of embracing terrorism and why aggrieved Kashmiri Pandits and people from other communities who have suffered a lot do not become terrorists. After spending two days in custody, she was granted bail, but on the condition that she will have to distribute 5 Qurans. Richa has refused to do so, and nationwide support has poured in her support, with many lawyers offering to fight her case for free in higher courts.
