The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday dismissed the pleas of two people detained under the National Security Act (NSA) for allegedly insulting and burning copies of the Hindu epic Ramcharitmanas in the state capital. A division bench of Justices Narendra Kumar Johri and Sangeeta Johri passed the order while dismissing petitions filed by Devendra Pratap Yadav and Suresh Singh Yadav separately. The petitions were filed on behalf of Devendra and Suresh seeking direction to quash the detention order. In its order, the court observed that the petitioners, along with his associates, publicly in broad daylight, insulted the religious text Ramcharitmanas, which is related to the life events of Lord Rama, who is worshipped by the majority of the society in their religious beliefs and faith. The anger generated in society due to this is natural, the court said. The court added that therefore, in such a situation where the petitioner has been detained by the executive/administration through the detention order dated February 8, 2023, in view of the impending danger, it cannot be considered as an unjustified and illegal restriction on the personal freedom of the petitioner. The court in its separate orders stated that hence the petition was rejected. On January 29, a group of people reportedly belonging to an outfit called Akhil Bharatiya OBC Mahasabha allegedly burnt pages of the Ramcharitmanas in the Vrindavan area. The police registered a first information report (FIR) against 10 people, including Samajwadi Party MLC Swami Prasad Maurya. The case was filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 295 (defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion), 153-A (promoting enmity), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) and 506 (criminal intimidation). While nine accused were booked under these sections, MLC Maurya was booked under IPC Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy). The FIR was registered on a complaint by BJP leader Satnam Singh Lavi. The protest was purportedly organised to express solidarity with Maurya, who on January 22 said in a statement that the Hindu epic Ramcharitmanas contained passages that were discriminatory of Dalits, tribals, people from the backward community and women. The police invoked the NSA against accused Devendra Yadav, Yashpal Singh Lodhi, Satyendra Kushwaha, Mohammad Saleem, and Suresh Yadav. The names were approved by an advisory board.
