Bail to 9 Tablighi Jamaat members who ‘violated’ visa & lockdown conditions

Nagpur: Nine Tablighi Jamaat (TJ) members from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (earlier parts of the erstwhile Soviet Union) secured bail from Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Friday. All of them had arrived in Delhi on tourist visa, but allegedly violated visa and lockdown conditions by arriving in Gadchiroli and took part in “Tablighi activities”.
Allowing their applications, Justice Manish Pitale directed them to stay at Darool Uloom Shahi Urdu Arabic School at Kosara, Padoli, in Chandrapur and report to the city police station on every Monday. While directing them to furnish a PR bond of Rs20,000 each with like surety amount, the court told police to keep their passports till the completion of investigations.
According to the petitioners, after their arrival on March 11 from Delhi they stayed at a mosque in Gadchiroli. They immediately intimated the Gadchiroli superintendent office and informed the authorities about entire schedule of their stay and departure in writing.
They were arrested on April 29 under Section 14(b) of the Foreigners (Amendment) Act, 2004, and Sections 188, 269, 270 of IPC along with Section 3 and 4 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, by the Gadchiroli police.
Subsequently, their bail plea was rejected by the sessions court there for attending religious event in Delhi mosque and also for violating visa and lockdown conditions imposed due to Covid-19 pandemic.
The petitioners applied for bail through counsels Firdos Mirza and Mir Nagman Ali contending that their client never anticipated lockdown which lasted for over two months. “The petitioners’ entry and stay in Gadchiroli is valid as per rules as the backward district has many tourist places. They never participated in Tablighi work and, thus, there is no violation of visa conditions. The police had also verified their passports carefully and had found them valid and in order,” they pointed out.
Opposing their contentions, assistant government pleader Amit Madiwale claimed that the Tablighis came in contact with several persons visiting the mosque and put them at risk of contracting coronavirus infection. While apprehending that the petitioners may flee the country, he pointed out that they also participated in religious activities which amounts to violation of visa condition.
Countering him, Mirza and Ali argued that after their arrest the petitioners were examined before being produced in the court and all of them were found to be asymptotic with no trace of Covid-19 symptoms. They said the petitioners agreed to stay at Darool Uloom Shahi Urdu Arabic School in Chandrapur and ready to cooperate with the prosecution.
“The petitioners had absolutely no intention nor any idea that they would be made accused for spreading the deadly virus, as they themselves were not carrying any symptoms. Therefore, it’s clear that they haven’t committed any offences alleged in IPC sections 188,269 and 270.