Muzaffarnagar Riots: Court Nod for Withdrawing Case on BJP Leaders

Representative image of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.

(Photo: The Quint)

On Friday, 26 March, a special court allowed the government counsel to withdraw the case against 12 leaders of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), pertaining to inciting violence in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case, PTI reported.

The list of BJP leaders includes Uttar Pradesh minister Suresh Rana, BJP MLA Sangeet Som, former BJP MP Bhartendu Singh and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Sadhvi Prachi.

In December 2020, the government of Uttar Pradesh had moved the court to withdraw the case against the BJP leaders who were accused of making incendiary speeches at a mahapanchayat organised at Nagla Mandor village in Muzaffarnagar in September 2013.

According to district government counsel Rajeev Sharma, the accused were booked “under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for violating prohibitory orders, deterring public servants from discharging their duties and wrongful restraint”.

THE CASE

The Jat community had convened a mahapanchayat at an intermediate college in Nagla Mandor village on 7 September 2013 to deliberate on the course of action after two youths, Sachin and Gaurav, were lynched by a Muslim mob in Kawaal village on 27 August 2013. They were accused of the murder of a Muslim youth, Shahnawaz Qureshi.

People returning from the mahapanchayat were attacked and riots broke out in the city of Muzaffarnagar and adjoining districts. Sixty-five people died and around 40,000 were displaced. A total of 510 criminal cases were registered but only 175 charge sheets were filed. In the rest, the police either filed closure reports or expunged the case.

(With inputs from PTI)