The Supreme Court on Monday allowed Islamic scholar Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, who was arrested in September 2021 for allegedly running a religious conversion syndicate, to attend the funeral of his brother on Monday at a village in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh.
A bench headed by Justice Aniruddha Bose said Siddiqui will be permitted to attend the funeral of his brother, and thereafter, he must return to his present place of residence in Delhi.
“We also make it clear that the applicant shall not participate in any political or social activities while in Uttar Pradesh, barring activities connected with funerals, and he shall not deliver any speech while in Uttar Pradesh,” the bench ordered.
Siddiqui filed an urgent application in the apex court seeking to attend his brother’s funeral, which is to take place on Monday itself.
“Considering the reason for which he wants the lifting of the temporary restraint order on his entry into UP, we permit him to go to his native village, of which we were apprised during the hearing, which is Fulat, Muzaffarnagar,” the apex court ordered.
The top court is seized of the appeal filed by the Uttar Pradesh government challenging the Allahabad High Court order passed in April this year granting bail to Siddiqui in a case lodged for alleged offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021.
The apex court, while hearing the case on May 9, said that during the period Siddiqui remains enlarged on bail, he shall not leave the National Capital Territory of Delhi except for the purpose of attending the trial or meeting the investigating officer.
The High Court granted bail to Siddiqui in the case while noting that one of the co-accused in the case was granted bail by the apex court while the other was given relief by a coordinate bench of the High Court.
Siddiqui, an Islamic scholar and president of the Jamia Imaam Waliullah Trust, has been accused of running a mass religious conversion racket through several organisations and schools he funded and by receiving funding from international organisations.
He was arrested by the anti-terrorist squad of the Uttar Pradesh police in September 2021. Siddiqui has also been accused of promoting enmity between different religious groups and disturbing India’s sovereignty and integrity. (ANI)
