Supreme Court grants bail to 3 Sambhal violence accused nearly a year after arrest
Supreme Court grants bail to 3 Sambhal violence accused nearly a year after arrest
M.U.H
28/10/20259
The Supreme Court has ordered the release on bail of three men arrested in connection with last year’s violent clashes in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal, which erupted during a court-ordered survey near the Shahi Jama Masjid.
A bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice R Mahadevan directed that Danish, Faizan, and Nazir be released on bail, noting that they have been in jail since 2024. The court said the local trial court would set the conditions for their release.
The three had earlier been denied bail by both the district and high courts.
The release process will begin once the state receives the court’s order.
The trio was among several people arrested following the clashes that broke out in November 2024 after a team arrived to conduct a survey of the 16th-century Shahi Jama Masjid, believed by some petitioners to have been built over a demolished temple. The survey had been ordered by a local civil court based on a petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who claimed that the mosque stood on the site of the historic Harihar Mandir.
The violence began when hundreds of protesters gathered to oppose the second phase of the survey. Four people were killed, and more than 20 policemen were injured in the ensuing stone-pelting and firing. A case was registered against several accused, including Samajwadi Party MP Zia ur Rahman Barq, whom police alleged had “instigated the mob”. Barq denied the allegations, saying he was in Bengaluru at the time.
The incident sparked a major political row, with the Samajwadi Party accusing the Yogi Adityanath government of mishandling the situation. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had alleged that “this was a riot orchestrated by the government” and that the administration had conducted the survey “without proper notice”.
Officials, however, maintained that prior notice for the survey was issued to the mosque management.
HIGH COURT RELIEF TO SAMAJWADI PARTY MP
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal, Zia Ur Rahman Barq, has been granted interim relief by the Allahabad High Court. The High Court has stayed the trial court proceedings until further orders. The court has sought responses from the state government and other defendants. The next hearing in the case will be on December 8.
