The Allahabad High Court has set aside two orders in a case against Mohammad Seraj Ali, a BBC journalist named in a first information report for reporting on the demolition of a mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki district, Live Law reported.

The orders had denied him a No Objection Certificate for the renewal or re-issuance of his passport, which was quashed by the High Court.

Ali, along with another journalist named Mukul Chauhan, had published a video report in June 2021 about the mosque in Barabanki while working for The Wire. The district administration demolished the mosque in Ram Sanehi Ghat in May 2021, claiming that it was an illegal structure, PTI reported.

An FIR was subsequently lodged against several persons, including Ali, under Indian Penal Code provisions pertaining to wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot, promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, etc., punishment for criminal conspiracy and printing or engraving defamatory matter.

In September 2021, Ali joined the BBC. A year later, a chargesheet was registered against him and a trial court took cognisance of the matter, Live Law reported.

At the same time, Ali had applied for renewing his passport in September 2022 as his passport was set to expire in April 2023. However, the Regional Passport Office asked for an NOC from the trial court in Barabanki in light of the criminal case against him, according to Live Law.

Ali moved the trial court for the required document but his application was rejected. The journalist then approached the Allahabad High Court.

In an order on Thursday, Justice Abdul Moin of the Allahabad High Court said that the rejection of Seraj’s request for an NOC to issue his passport reflected a clear non-application of mind by the trial court, Bar and Bench reported.

Quashing the orders of the trial court, the High Court said that Seraj may file a fresh application for the renewal or re-issuance of his passport before the Regional Passport Officer within 20 days.

“Upon receipt of the same, the passport authority must decide the application within one month, post verification and due formalities, based on the certified copy of this order,” the order added.

It also said that Ali must seek prior permission before travelling abroad, adding that he must also adhere to the schedule and conditions imposed by the trial court.

During the proceedings in the High Court, the counsel representing Ali said that the NOC was wrongly denied because the trial court ignored key government guidelines from two office memorandums, Bar and Bench reported.

The two memorandums outline how NOCs should be handled even in cases with pending criminal matters.