Munawar Faruqui case: Interim bail granted to Nalin Yadav and Sadakat Khan by Madhya Pradesh HC
All those accused in the case have now been given bail.
The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday granted interim bail to Nalin Yadav and Sadakat Khan, who were arrested with comedian Munawar Faruqui, in relation to a case registered against them by the Indore Police for allegedly hurting religious sentiments, Bar and Bench reported.
Justice Rohit Arya passed the order in light of the Supreme Court judgement on February 5, granting bail to Faruqui, according to Bar and Bench. Then on February 12, bail was granted to two other co-accused in the case, Prakhar Vyas and Edwin Anthony. After Friday’s verdict, all accused who were put in custody on January 1, have been allowed bail.
“Applicant is held entitled for temporary bail maintaining parity in the light of the order dated February 5, 2021 passed by the Supreme Court,” Arya said in his bail order on Friday. Earlier, Khan’s bail plea was rejected twice by a sessions court in Indore, observing that the case against him does not change because of the Supreme Court’s judgement on Faruqui.
Faruqui was arrested on January 1 from a cafe in Indore on a complaint by the vigilante son of a Bharatiya Janata Party politician who alleged that objectionable statements about Hindu deities were going to be made at the comedian’s show. People present at the club say that the police detained him before he had actually started performing.
On January 4, the Indore Police had said that there was no visual evidence to show that Faruqui had insulted Hindu deities.
Along with Faruqui, four others – Yadav, Anthony and Prakhar and Priyam Vyas – were also arrested on similar charges. A day later, Faruqui’s friend Khan, a Mumbai-based engineer, was arrested for allegedly making abusive remarks about complainant Eklavya Singh Gaur, the chief of Hindutva group Hind Rakshak Sangathan.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court granted Faruqui interim bail, observing that allegations mentioned against him in the FIR were vague. The court also stayed the production warrant issued by the Uttar Pradesh Police against him.