Prayagraj (UP): The Allahabad High Court on Friday refused to quash an FIR lodged against Samajwadi Party (SP) MP from Sambhal Zia-Ur-Rehman Barq for allegedly delivering a provocative speech that led to violence in the Uttar Pradesh district recently.
However, the court made it clear that as the alleged offenses attract a maximum punishment of seven years in jail, there should not be a routine arrest of the petitioner, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in the case of Arunesh Kumar Vs State of Bihar as well as section 35 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
Disposing of the writ petition, a division bench of Justices Rajiv Gupta and Mohammad Azhar Husain Idrisi said, “We have perused the FIR, which prima facie discloses a cognizable offense against the petitioner, and therefore, the prayer made to quash the FIR cannot be entertained, and as such, we are of the view that no interference is warranted.
In the FIR lodged at the Sambhal police station, Barq has been named for alleged provocation for violence during the court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid mosque that left four people dead.
The order was passed by a bench of Justices Rajiv Gupta and Azahar Husain Idrisi on a petition filed by Barq, after hearing his counsel Imran Ullah and the additional government advocate.
In its order, the court said the probe against Barq would continue and asked the member of Parliament to cooperate with the investigators.
