Allahabad HC grants relief to journalist booked for reporting on mosque demolition in UP

The Allahabad High Court has set aside two orders in a case against Mohammad Seraj Ali, a BBC journalist named in a first information report for reporting on the demolition of a mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki district, Live Law reported.

The orders had denied him a No Objection Certificate for the renewal or re-issuance of his passport, which was quashed by the High Court.

Ali, along with another journalist named Mukul Chauhan, had published a video report in June 2021 about the mosque in Barabanki while working for The Wire. The district administration demolished the mosque in Ram Sanehi Ghat in May 2021, claiming that it was an illegal structure, PTI reported.

An FIR was subsequently lodged against several persons, including Ali, under Indian Penal Code provisions pertaining to wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot, promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, etc., punishment for criminal conspiracy and printing or engraving defamatory matter.

In September 2021, Ali joined the BBC. A year later, a chargesheet was registered against him and a trial court took cognisance of the matter, Live Law reported.

At the same time, Ali had applied for renewing his passport in September 2022 as his passport was set to expire in April 2023. However, the Regional Passport Office...

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