Gurugram ‘Namaz’ Row: SC Agrees to Hear Contempt Plea Against Haryana Officials

The plea said Haryana authorities have failed to comply with the top court’s directions, to prevent hate crimes.

The Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana on Monday, 31 January, agreed to give immediate listing to a petition seeking contempt action against Chief Secretary and the Director-General of Haryana Police for their alleged inaction in preventing the disruption of Friday Namaz in open sites in Gurugram which had been designated by the city authorities back in 2018.

The petition filed by former Rajya Sabha MP Mohammad Adeeb has submitted that there has been a rise in disruptive incidents by certain "identifiable hooligans", who portray themselves falsely in the name of religion but seek to create an atmosphere of hatred and prejudice against Muslims across the city, LiveLaw reported.

This comes after permission to offer namaz at all the designated sites in the city was rescinded and in the aftermath of an First Information Report (FIR) filed against the Rajya Sabha MP, who has been at the forefront of the namaz row, among other members of the Muslim community.

The petition states that Haryana authorities have failed to comply with Supreme Court’s directions, issued in 2018, to control and prevent the intensifying hate crimes, including mob violence and lynching.

The plea reads:

"This nefarious design being given effect to by propagation and dissemination of hateful content through social media platforms spreading false narratives, terming the performance of Friday Namaz, which is being done in the open due to compulsion and the same is permitted by the appropriate authorities in the circumstances as being illegal and in a manner of some sort of encroachment."

As reported by LiveLaw

The petitioner has also pointed out that though the disruptions began in April 2021, with no strict action being taken against the unruly elements, by 3 December, the incidents escalated further and a larger group was present on various designated sites, chanting communally divisive and hateful slogans.

The Quint had earlier reported on the anti-muslim slogans being chanted by Hindutva groups at one of the prayer sites outside a police station, in Gurugram's Sector 37.

The plea further argues that "the continuous inaction, apathy of the State machinery and failure of the local law enforcement agencies and administration to prevent such incidents or to find a solution to the crises before it spirals into a monstrosity, is precisely what had been indicated" by the Supreme Court and is thus a contempt of the apex court's direction, LiveLaw reported.

(With inputs from LiveLaw.)