New Delhi: The Supreme Court has granted bail to three Muslim men, Danish, Faizan, and Nazir, who were imprisoned after a protest at the Jama Masjid in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, last November. The protest erupted when officials arrived to conduct a court-ordered survey to determine whether a temple existed at the mosque site. The incident turned violent after a right-wing Hindu mob accompanying the officials allegedly shouted “Jai Shri Ram” slogans, leading to police firing that killed at least five Muslim men.
A bench of Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice R. Mahadevan set aside the Allahabad High Court’s decision that had earlier denied bail to two of the accused. The bench found no sufficient evidence to justify their continued detention.
Over a hundred Muslim men were named in multiple FIRs and jailed following the incident. Advocate Sulaiman Mohammad Khan, representing the accused, said that the men had been falsely implicated and detained without credible evidence. He welcomed the Supreme Court’s order, saying it reaffirmed the legal principle that “bail, not jail, is the rule.”
Khan also highlighted that the case reflected a broader trend of criminalising protest and targeting Muslim communities under the guise of law enforcement. Human rights groups have accused the state of selectively enforcing laws around mosque surveys, allowing communal tension to escalate unchecked.
The Supreme Court’s decision is expected to influence similar pending cases across Uttar Pradesh related to mosque surveys and police actions.
