Sambhal violence: SC quashes NSA detention of alleged organiser, imposes Rs 10 lakh cost on UP

The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed the National Security Act detention of a man who was accused of being responsible for the November 2024 Sambhal violence, Bar and Bench reported

“Confessional statement cannot be the sole ground for detention, surrounding circumstances have to be looked into,” held a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu.

Mulla Afroz had been arrested about 54 days after the violence. Although the Allahabad High Court had granted him bail, the Uttar Pradesh government passed an order to detain Afroz under the National Security Act on October 13, 2025, on the basis of a confession he made while he was in police custody.

The Act allows authorities to detain a person without trial for up to a year.

The Sambhal violence broke out on November 24, 2024, after a group of Muslims objected to a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Chandausi town of Sambhal. The survey had been ordered in a suit claiming that the mosque was built in 1526 by Mughal ruler Babar on the site of an ancient Hindu temple. The violence left five persons dead, with locals alleging that four of them were killed in police firing.

On Monday, the bench imposed costs of Rs 10 lakh on the Uttar Pradesh government for the “illegal...

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