Dr Kafeel Khan gets relief from Allahabad HC in hate speech case

The High Court has quashed the proceedings of CJM Aligarh of taking cognizance of the chargesheet without seeking permission from the state government to prosecute a government servant.

Only after getting permission to prosecute from the government, the letter has been sent back to the Judicial Magistrate for action as per rules.

The High Court has said that after getting permission from the government, a criminal case can be started against Dr Kafeel Khan.

This order was given by Justice Gautam Chaudhary here on Thursday on the petition of Dr. Kafeel Khan. Senior advocate Dilip Kumar, advocate Manish Kumar Singh and Shambhavi Shukla while state government's Additional Advocate General Manish Goyal and Additional Government Advocate Patanjali Mishra presented their side on the petition.

An FIR was lodged against the petitioner for allegedly giving provocative and anti-national speech in the meeting organized at Aligarh Muslim University in protest against CAA and the police filed a charge sheet. The CJM also took cognizance of the report whose validity was challenged.

The petitioner advocate submitted that under section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a criminal case cannot be started against a public servant without the permission of the government. The order of the magistrate should be set aside as it is against the Supreme Court and the legal provisions.

It was said on behalf of the government that if the prosecution is not allowed while framing the charges, then the proceedings can be quashed. The petition against the order to take cognizance is not maintainable.

But the court quashed the order of the magistrate to take cognizance without taking the permission of the government.

Dr Kafeel Khan spent 7.5 months in a Mathura jail following this case by the UP Police.