Updated: December 15, 2020 5:39:41 pm
The Jamaat made headlines in March after Nizamuddin Markaz emerged as a hotspot.
A Delhi court on Tuesday acquitted the 36 foreigners facing trial for allegedly violating Covid-19-related guidelines by attending the Tablighi Jamaat event in the Nizamuddin area of Delhi.
The Jamaat made headlines in March after Nizamuddin Markaz emerged as a hotspot. Delhi Police indicted 955 foreigners for allegedly violating visa conditions, engaging in missionary activities, and failing to follow the government’s Covid guidelines.
A Delhi court acquitted the 36 foreign nationals facing trial for allegedly violating Covid-19-related guidelines by attending the Tabligi Jamaat event in Nizamuddin. @IndianExpress
– Anand Mohan (@mohanreports) December 15, 2020
As reported by The Indian Express previously, while most of the foreign members of Tablighi Jamaat had accepted agreements with the prosecution and gone to their countries, 44 had decided to face trial in Delhi. Of these, the court had previously fired eight members, stating that “there was no prima facie evidence” against them.
The court had also discharged the rest of the 36 under section 14 of the Aliens Act and sections 270 and 271 of the IPC. However, they still face charges under the Epidemics Act, the Disaster Management Act and other sections of the IPC.
When dismissing the eight nationals, Metropolitan Chief Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur had observed: “The full charge sheet and accompanying documents do not show their presence or participation in the Markaz during the relevant period. There is also no recorded document to suggest that he was one of the participants involved in Tablighi’s work, as are the allegations. Neither the copy of the record seized and placed in the registry, nor the list of SDM that provides details of the people who were sent from the Markaz to hospitals or quarantine centers, or the list of people who were part of the Markaz and were analyzed for Covid specifically mentions the name of the defendant present, to even demonstrate his participation or prima facie presence, as alleged in the charge sheet, in the Markaz. Even for this court to proceed further, there has to be some prima facie evidence against the accused, which there is not … “
The Delhi police had objected to the defendants’ request for release on the grounds that there was “sufficient prima facie evidence” on the charge sheet and in the documents to proceed against them. The police had produced a circular from the Interior Ministry to indicate that the defendants came to India on a tourist visa, but were “involved in Tablighi’s work” in violation of the visa manual.
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