A local court on Thursday rejected the interim bail plea of Shahi Jama Masjid president Zafar Ali and scheduled the hearing for his regular bail plea on April 2, officials said. Additional district judge II Nirbhay Narayan Rai dismissed the interim bail request after hearing arguments from both sides, said additional district government counsel Hariom Prakash Saini. During the hearing, Ali's lawyer sought interim bail, but the prosecution opposed it, citing serious charges against him, including inciting violence, assembling a mob, damaging public property, and fabricating facts. Based on the arguments, the court denied relief and set April 2 for the next hearing, Saini added.
Ali was arrested on March 23 after being questioned in connection with the November 24 violence, which broke out during a protest against a court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era mosque. On the same day, a Chandausi court rejected his bail plea and sent him to Moradabad Jail under two-day judicial custody.
Ali has been booked under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including 191(2) and 191(3) (rioting), 190 (unlawful assembly), 221 (obstructing a public servant), 125 (endangering life or personal safety), 132 (assault on a public servant), 196 (promoting enmity), 230 (fabricating false evidence for capital punishment), and 231 (fabricating false evidence for life imprisonment). He has also been charged under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. Ali has denied the allegations, claiming he was framed. His elder brother Tahir Ali accused the police of "deliberately" jailing him before the judicial panel could record his testimony.
Violence erupted in Sambhal’s Kot Garvi locality on November 24 last year during the survey of the Jama Masjid. The Uttar Pradesh government has formed a panel to investigate the violence, which left four people dead and several others injured during protests over the survey. The Mughal-era mosque has been at the center of a legal dispute after a petition claimed it was built on the site of an ancient Hindu temple.
(With PTI inputs)