The three-member bench cautioned that during his Uttar Pradesh visit the cleric is not to take part in any political activity, nor any social activity apart from those connected with the funeral.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court on Monday allowed Islamic scholar Kaleem Siddiqui, out on bail in the religion conversion case, to travel to his native village in Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh to attend his brother’s funeral.
The court is hearing a plea filed by the Uttar Pradesh government against the Allahabad High Court’s decision to grant bail to Siddiqui. On Monday, a bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose, Sanjay Kumar, and S.V.N. Bhatti agreed to urgently hear his application seeking permission to travel to his ancestral village to attend his brother’s funeral.
When the plea was orally mentioned before the court in the morning, the Justice Bose-led bench said that it would hear the application tomorrow. But on being informed that Siddiqui’s brother’s funeral was scheduled to be held later on Monday, the court acceded to his request for an urgent hearing, a LiveLaw report said.
In the presence of UP Additional Advocate General Garima Prashad the apex court granted Siddiqui permission to travel to his native village in Falut in Muzaffarnagar district for the sole purpose of attending his brother’s funeral, despite the bail condition preventing his entry into the state. At the same time, the bench cautioned that during his Uttar Pradesh visit the cleric is not to take part in any political activity, nor any social activity apart from those connected with the funeral. He has also been restrained from delivering any speech there.
On the last occasion, the court asked the UP government to indicate the specific role attributed to the Islamic cleric in running the alleged mass conversion racket and the material before the high court that formed the basis of its bail order. The state government, through its additional advocate general, strongly objected to Siddiqui being granted bail, alleging that he was the key conspirator in a network of operatives working towards the objective of waging war against the Indian Constitution and replacing it with Shariah law.
The hearing of the state government’s plea against the bail order has been adjourned until September 5.
Kaleem Siddiqui, president of the Jamia Imaam Waliullah Trust also, 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 Uttar Pradesh police in September 2021. Besides forcible conversions, he has also been accused of promoting enmity between different religious groups and disturbing India’s sovereignty and integrity.
