HC tells Bareilly man not to holdlarge gatherings for namaz at home

Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court has directed a petitioner from Bareilly, who was previously granted security after being allegedly stopped from offering namaz at home, not to hold large gatherings. The court has also asked the state authorities to take action if public peace and tranquility are threatened due to such large gatherings. The high court also discharged the contempt notice issued to the Bareilly district magistrate and SSP. A division bench comprising Justice Saral Srivastava and Justice Garima Prashad, in an order dated Mar 25, directed the authorities to immediately withdraw the security provided to a Bareilly resident, Haseen Khan, after the state counsel submitted that he no longer required it. The DM and SSP appeared before the high court in compliance with an earlier order and filed personal affidavits.While representing the state, additional advocate general Anoop Trivedi submitted that under the garb of protection, the petitioner was misusing the same and at least 52-62 persons are offering namaz at his property every day. To substantiate this claim, the state placed on record photographs of the petitioner's property enclosed with the affidavits. The AAG added that in case such practice is allowed to be continued, it would be detrimental to the peace and tranquility of the area. Under the garb of personal protection, this cannot be permitted, he said. The AAG submitted that if there is any possibility of disturbance of law and order, the state authorities have no option but to take action. Taking into account these submissions, the court took on record the undertaking of the counsel for the petitioner that he will not gather a large number of persons for offering namaz over the property which is the subject matter of the present petition. Accepting this stance, the HC observed, "We hope and trust that the petitioner shall abide by the undertaking given by him. In case he violates the aforesaid undertaking and gathers a large number of people to offer namaz at the property, which is the subject matter in the present writ petition and if there is a threat to peace and tranquility in the area, the authorities are at liberty to act in accordance with law." The court also directed the state authorities to immediately withdraw a police challan dated Jan 16, 2026, issued against the petitioner and other persons.