Allahabad HC Grants Relief to Sambhal Jama Masjid President in FIR Over Jail-Release Celebratory Procession
Allahabad HC Stays FIR Against Sambhal Mosque’s Zafar Ali Over Jail-Release Roadshow Linked to 2024 Violence Case
The Allahabad High Court has stayed further proceedings in an FIR registered against Zafar Ali, president of the Shahi Jama Masjid managing committee in Sambhal, and three others in connection with a celebratory procession taken out after Ali's release from jail earlier this year. Ali was granted bail by the High Court on July 24 in the case arising from alleged mob violence during a mosque survey in November 2024.
A bench of Justices Siddhartha Varma and Abdul Shahid passed the order on a petition filed by Ali, Sarfaraz, Tahir, and Haider seeking quashing of the FIR, lodged at Sambhal Kotwali police station on August 5. The court has issued notice to the state government and directed it to file its response within three weeks, while allowing the petitioners to file rejoinders two weeks thereafter.
"Till the next date of listing, no further proceeding in pursuance of the impugned FIR be undertaken. However, it shall be open for the respondents to proceed vis-a-vis the investigation in accordance with law by filing a proper complaint," court ordered.
The FIR, registered as Crime No. 0186 of 2025 under Section 223(a), accuses Ali and others of leading a roadshow on August 1 after he walked out of Moradabad jail. According to the police, a cavalcade of vehicles and supporters accompanied Ali on a nearly 40-kilometre route from Moradabad to Sambhal. Officials said the event was organised without prior permission and in violation of prohibitory orders.
Petitioners argued before the court that the FIR was not maintainable as the alleged offence was non-cognizable and the police lacked authority to record it. The bench, while staying proceedings under the impugned FIR, clarified that the police would be free to proceed through a proper complaint if required.
Ali’s release from jail in July followed his arrest in March in connection with violent clashes that broke out during a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid on November 24, 2024. The violence left at least four to five persons dead and several others, including policemen, injured. Multiple FIRs were registered after the incident and a chargesheet running into hundreds of pages was later filed by the SIT. Ali’s name figured among those accused of instigating the unrest.
The Sambhal clashes had drawn statewide attention, with heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces in the district at the time. Investigators alleged that the violence was premeditated and that local leaders mobilised crowds to resist the survey ordered by a local court. Ali was among those arrested in the months that followed, before being granted bail.
Case Title: Zafar Ali And 3 Others vs. State Of U.P. And 3 Others
Order Date: September 18, 2025
Bench: Justices Siddhartha Varma and Abdul Shahid