Tablighi Jamaat congregation case: Delhi HC quashes 16 FIRs against 70 Indians for hosting attendees
Cases were filed against those who attended the religious conference for allegedly disobeying the government’s Covid-19 guidelines.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday quashed 16 first information reports registered against 70 Indians who had hosted foreign nationals participating in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation during the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020, Live Law reported.
The 70 persons had allegedly hosted more than 190 foreigners associated with the Tablighi Jamaat between March 24, 2020, and March 30, 2020.
The religious congregation had taken place on March 9 and 10 in 2020, in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area. On March 25, 2020, a countrywide lockdown was imposed in India to combat the coronavirus outbreak.
The Tablighi Jamaat congregation was blamed for thousands of coronavirus infections around the country in the initial weeks of the lockdown. The event had renewed stigma against Muslims, triggering a wave of business boycotts and hate speech.
The persons accused in the 16 cases were booked under provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Epidemic Diseases Act, the Disaster Management Act and the Foreigners Act.
The Delhi Police had argued before the court that the accused had violated the nationwide lockdown and other prohibitory orders by hosting foreign nationals.
However, the court had asked the police where the persons could have gone when a lockdown was suddenly imposed in the city.
Several cases were filed against those who attended the congregation for reasons such as allegedly disobeying the government’s Covid-19 guidelines or violating the conditions of their visa. But courts have quashed most of the FIRs and acquitted the members.