Police cordon off the area in Nizamuddin where several people had gathered for the Tablighi event. (Express Archive ) DELHI Police has told the Delhi High Court that cases were registered against Indian nationals who last year allowed foreigners who had attended the religious congregation of Tablighi Jamaat to live together in their houses.
“He was the owner of the house, who allowed these people to live together in his house after attending the religious conference having huge gathering,” SHO Chandani Mahal told the court in two separate petitions filed by Delhi residents Rizwan and Feroze Siddiqui seeking quashing of FIRs against them.
While referring to the foreigners, police said they had violated the directions issued by the Government of Delhi and the police in connection with the pandemic. “On March 11, 2020 WHO declared Covid-19 a global pandemic, and the Government of India and the Government of NCT of Delhi had also issued notification that all religious places of any denominations shall be closed and any congregation is strictly prohibited,” the reply reads.
In the petitions filed through advocate Ashima Mandala, Rizwan and Siddiqui have argued that the only allegations against them is of accommodating foreign nationals inside their houses when the country was locked down. “However, there is no whisper of either any religious/social gathering being held inside the house of the petitioner or the petitioner herein being Covid- 19 positive,” the petitioners have argued.
Rizwan and Siddiqui are seeking quashing of the FIRs registered under sections 188, 269, 270 and 120-B of the IPC against them. The police have accused them of providing accommodation to four foreign nationals each.
The Delhi Police, meanwhile, wrote to the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) on Wednesday, directing that the names of 35 members of the Tablighi Jamaat be removed from the Look Out Circular (LOC) that was issued against them last year. The 35 had pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
