New Delhi: In a landmark judgment, the Delhi High Court has quashed 16 FIRs filed against 70 Indian citizens accused of hosting foreign nationals linked to the Tablighi Jamaat during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The verdict is widely regarded as a significant vindication for those wrongfully blamed amidst a wave of communal targeting and misinformation.
The court dismissed the Delhi Police’s arguments, ruling that there was no legal basis to prosecute the individuals under COVID-19 protocol violations. Advocate Ashima Mandla, representing the accused, emphasized that the FIRs lacked any medical evidence proving that the individuals had contracted or spread the virus.
“The charge sheets do not mention a single accused testing positive for COVID-19. If no one was infected, how could they have spread the virus?” she argued, underlining the absence of substantive grounds for the allegations.
The Tablighi Jamaat’s religious congregation at Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz in March 2020 had drawn intense media scrutiny. The area was declared a COVID-19 hotspot after 24 participants reportedly tested positive. This led to numerous criminal cases under the Epidemic Diseases Act, Foreigners Act, Disaster Management Act, and various sections of the Indian Penal Code.
However, subsequent investigations and judicial reviews revealed that the accusations were exaggerated and lacked credible evidence. The Delhi High Court’s recent ruling adds to a growing list of court decisions that have overturned similar charges across the country. The court also noted the injustice of targeting a specific group during a public health emergency.
This judgment follows last year’s verdict by the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court, which quashed FIRs against 29 foreign nationals and six Indian citizens, stating they were unfairly scapegoated. Similarly, the Supreme Court had earlier criticized the misuse of media freedom in communalizing the Tablighi Jamaat episode.
Legal experts view the Delhi High Court’s decision as a reaffirmation of judicial integrity and a warning against the misuse of legal and media platforms for communal targeting during crises.
