Bareilly court acquits 12 Tablighi Jamaat men of all charges

Twelve members of the Tablighi Jamaat have now been acquitted of all charges by the chief judicial magistrate of Bareilly. Fifteen months ago, they were booked for 'negligence' and 'disobedience' of Covid norms.

Among those acquitted are nine Thai nationals, their two translators and a caretaker of the mosque in Shahjahanpur where they were living after attending the Jamaat congregation in Delhi.

The Thai nationals have been allowed to return to their home. Milan Gupta, counsel for the Jamaat members said that the order was passed verbally on Saturday. "The judgment copy is not delivered instantly on acquittal. We have applied for it and it should be available after the court opens on Tuesday."

In early March last year, thousands of people gathered at the Nizamuddin Markaz (centre) of Tablighi Jamaat. The ministry of home affairs put the figure of members and primary contacts at 9,000. The centre later said 2,300 foreign nationals had participated in the event. The congregation ended by March 15, 2020, after which the Centre announced a lockdown.

Foreign nationals could not leave the country and stayed on. Among them were the nine Thai nationals, who went to Shahjahanpur and put up at a mosque along with their two translators Hussain Ahmad and Abdul Sardar MS (both of whom were from Tamil Nadu).