Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to Zafar Ali, a prominent advocate and president of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, who was arrested in March 2025 in connection with violent protests following a controversial mosque survey conducted in November 2024. The protests had resulted in the deaths of at least five Muslim men.
The decision was delivered by Justice Sameer Jain of the Allahabad High Court, who allowed Ali’s bail application after nearly five months of his incarceration in Moradabad jail. Zafar Ali had been taken into custody by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Uttar Pradesh Police.
Authorities had charged Ali under several stringent provisions of the newly enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), and the Public Property Damage Prevention Act, alleging that he incited violence by mobilising protesters after receiving early information about the survey.
However, civil society groups, human rights defenders, and local residents contend that Ali was being targeted for raising his voice against police brutality. Eyewitnesses reported that police had fired on unarmed civilians during the protests, which had been intensified by the presence and backing of a Hindutva-aligned mob during the survey at the historic mosque.
Following the incident, Zafar Ali had addressed a press conference where he accused top district officials, including the Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Superintendent of Police (SP), and District Magistrate (DM), of orchestrating the firing on protesters. He denied the police’s claims that the violence was premeditated, instead attributing it to fear and confusion among the public, which, he said, could have been defused with responsible communication.
Ali further blamed the Sub-Divisional Magistrate and Circle Officer for worsening the situation, alleging that they abused and threatened peaceful demonstrators. According to him, nearly 75% of the crowd had peacefully dispersed following his appeal for calm, and the police firing that followed was entirely avoidable.
The case has sparked outrage across minority communities and legal circles, with many viewing it as yet another example of the misuse of state power to suppress Muslim voices and criminalise dissent.
