Delhi High Court Quashes All Pending Cases Against 70 Individuals Linked to Tablighi Jamaat

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Delhi High Court Quashes All Pending Cases Against 70 Individuals Linked to Tablighi Jamaat

In a major legal development, the Delhi High Court has quashed all criminal proceedings against 70 Indian nationals who were accused of providing shelter to foreign participants of the Tablighi Jamaat congregation held in March 2020 at the Nizamuddin Markaz during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

16 FIRs and Chargesheets Dismissed

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, presiding over the case, ruled that there was no sufficient evidence to justify the continuation of these cases. The court was hearing petitions seeking the quashing of 16 FIRs filed under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, Epidemic Diseases Act, and Disaster Management Act.

No Proof of Criminal Intent or Infection Risk

The judgment emphasized that:

(a) There was no evidence that any of the accused individuals were COVID-19 positive.
(b) There was no proof of unlawful gathering or intention to violate lockdown protocols.
(c) The foreign Tablighi members were stranded due to sudden lockdown measures and were sheltered as a humanitarian response, not as part of any conspiracy.

The court noted that "there isn’t even a whisper in the FIR or the chargesheets suggesting any willful violation or negligence" by those who provided accommodation.

Case Continuation Called “Abuse of Process”

Justice Krishna stated that continuing the legal proceedings would amount to harassment and an abuse of the judicial process, particularly given that the accused had been under legal scrutiny for over five years without any conclusive evidence against them.

In 2020, during the peak of the first COVID-19 wave, a large number of cases were filed across India after it was alleged that the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi had become a COVID hotspot. Many individuals, including Indian citizens and foreign nationals, faced arrest, blacklisting, or criminal charges.