Disclaimer: This has been reported after the availability of the order of the Court and not on media reports so as to give an accurate report to our readers.
Allahabad High Court: In a writ petition filed by a man accused of being involved in the Bareilly Violence Case, the Division Bench of Ajay Bhanot and Garima Prashad, JJ., dismissed the petition, thereby rejecting the plea for quashing the FIR.
Background
On 26-09-2025, allegedly, a Maulana called upon members of a particular community to assemble at the Islamiya Inter College, and several people started assembling. The first informant was on duty to maintain law and order when he received information that some anarchic elements had attacked the police party and disrupted the peace. Upon receipt of such information, the police party was duly constituted, which reached Shyamganj bridge and started making some enquiries regarding the movement of the mob. Till that point in time, about 200-250 people had formed the mob and were proceeding from Maulana Azad Inter College towards Shyamganj Chauraha. The crowd was also holding boards and raising allegedly provocative slogans.
The police party intercepted the crowd and tried to persuade them not to proceed further. The crowd was also informed that no permission for any such programme was given, and that prohibition orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, were in force. However, the accused persons, along with others, paid little heed to the warnings and persuasions made by the police personnel. Thereafter, the accused persons became more resistant and started raising slogans.
The police issued warnings on the loudspeakers, intimated their superior officials immediately, and set up barriers to stop the crowd. The accused persons became aggressive and were adamant on proceeding towards the appointed place for the congregation. Subsequently, brickbats, stones, and acid bottles were thrown at the police force by the accused persons in the crowd, and the police opened fire in self-defence. The mob took shelter in a house and again attacked the police with brickbats and stones. Gunshots were also fired from the crowd at the police.
Consequently, the clothes of police personnel were torn, and two of them sustained injuries. The aggressive actions of the crowd created an atmosphere of terror in the area. Empties of firearms, acid bottles, and brickbats were used in the violence. Other materials were later recovered from the site.
The State contended that the attack on the police force, which is enforcing law and order, constituted a grave threat to the authority of the State and the rule of law. The incident was under investigation. The accused was named in the FIR, and prima facie offences were made out against him.
Decision
Noting the submissions of the State, the landmark cases State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal, 1992 Supp (1) SCC 335 and Neeharika Infrastructure (P) Ltd. v. State of Maharashtra, (2021) 19 SCC 401, and the accused’s plea that he did not wish to press the relief for quashing the FIR, the Court rejected the relief sought for quashing of the FIR.
Regarding the plea for grant of liberty to approach the competent Court to seek appropriate remedies, the Court held that the accused could always avail other legal remedies as may be advised.
Accordingly, the writ petition was disposed of.
[Adnan v. State of UP, Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No. – 23305 of 2025, decided on 13-11-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the petitioner: Ansar Ahmad
For the respondent: Anoop Trivedi, learned Additional Advocate General Paritosh Malviya, learned AGA-I