After late-night release, Munawar Faruqui says: Have faith in judiciary

A day after his release from Indore Central Jail late Saturday night, comedian Munawar Faruqui, in a video that has been released on social media, said, “I have faith in judiciary and I will get justice.”

The Supreme Court had on Friday granted ad-interim bail to Faruqui, who was arrested on January 1, and issued notice to the Madhya Pradesh police in a case registered against him for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.

A day later, Indore jail authorities had refused to release Faruqui, saying they had not received official communication from the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in Prayagraj, which had issued a production warrant against him in a similar case. But Faruqui was released late Saturday night, after the CJM of Indore reportedly received a “call from the Supreme Court”, urging them to check the website for the apex court’s order on the ad-interim bail.

According to Indore Jail Superintendent Rakesh Bhangre, Faruqui was released at 11 pm after they learnt that the Supreme Court’s order putting a stay on the production warrant has been uploaded on the apex court’s website.

Ashar Warsi, one of Faruqui’s advocates, said, “Earlier, there was some confusion though a team of lawyers had submitted a certified copy of the Supreme Court’s order, along with a covering letter, to the jail Superintendent.”

Warsi said that while the CJM at Indore had given Faruqui’s release warrant in cases registered against him at Indore’s Tukoganj police station, “the jail authorities refused to release him saying they had no official communication from the CJM in Prayagraj”.

While staying the production warrant, the apex court had said, “We issue notice in both petitions, and stay the judgment of the High Court. The petitioner is released on ad-interim bail on conditions to the satisfaction of the trial court. In the meantime, there shall be stay of the production warrants as well.”

Faruqui was arrested in Indore on January 1 following a complaint by Eklavya Singh Gaur, son of BJP MLA Malini Singh Gaur and convenor of a local outfit, Hindu Rakshak, that the comedian allegedly hurt Hindu religious sentiments during a comedy show at a popular cafe that day.

Munawar’s bail plea was rejected on January 5 by a sessions court and his judicial custody was extended by two weeks on January 13.