DELHI HC QUASHES 16 FIRS AGAINST 70 PEOPLE OVER SHELTERING TABLIGHI JAMAAT ATTENDEES DURING COVID19

Sun 20 July 2025:

The Delhi High Court on Thursday quashed 16 FIRs filed against 70 Indian nationals who were accused of sheltering foreign participants of the Tablighi Jamaat congregation during the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020.

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna passed the order, stating, “Chargesheets quashed”.

A detailed judgment is awaited.

The Delhi Police alleged they had violated lockdown restrictions and other prohibitory orders by housing over 190 foreign nationals associated with the Tablighi Jamaat during the first wave of the pandemic.

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The Police had initially booked the Indian nationals under multiple provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including charges of criminal conspiracy, along with sections of the Epidemic Diseases Act, the Disaster Management Act, and the Foreigners Act. The charges also included 195 foreign nationals.

The police action led to a massive malicious campaign against the Muslim group in India, endorsed by the state and media.

The petitioners were represented by advocates Ashima Mandla and Mandakini Singh.

The Delhi Police was represented by Additional Standing Counsel Amol Sinha, along with advocates Kshitiz Garg, Nitish Dhawan, Rahul Kochar, Chavi Lazarus, and Sanskriti Nimbekar.

About 960 foreign nationals who attended the Tablighi Jama’at event in March 2020 were charged and detained by Indian police for violating the coronavirus pandemic guidelines last year, a week after India imposed a nationwide lockdown.

In 2021, the accused approached the Delhi High Court seeking to quash the FIRs, arguing that the prohibitory orders in place at the time only restricted religious gatherings, and that they had merely provided shelter to attendees.

They argued that the FIRs were baseless, fabricated, and legally untenable. The continued legal action, they said, infringed upon their personal liberty by subjecting them to unwarranted and unsubstantiated charges.

Opposing the plea, the Delhi Police maintained that the accused had not only defied official prohibitory orders but had also played a role in the spread of Covid-19.

Several media outlets, especially those often labeled as ‘Godhi media’ for their perceived pro-BJP stance, used inflammatory and Islamophobic language such as ‘corona jihad,’ ‘super spreaders,’ ‘human bombs,’ and ‘terrorists’ to describe members of the Tablighi Jamaat during the Covid-19 outbreak, exposing deep-rooted bias and communal prejudice.

India Today aired a debate titled “Tablighi Jamaat: How Maulana Saad Set Off Covid-19 Clusters,” suggesting intentional spread. Times Now referred to the event as a “Tablighi ticking time bomb,” while Republic TV broadcast misleading audio clips hinting at a conspiracy.

This selective vilification drew criticism. Maharashtra minister Aslam Shaikh highlighted the bias, and in August 2020, the Bombay High Court slammed both the media and the government, observing that “a political government tries to find the scapegoat when there is a pandemic or calamity.”