HC grants bail to nine Tablighi members from central Asia

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to nine members of Tablighi Jamat hailing from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan who were staying in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.

The nine were arrested on April 29 for allegedly violating their visa conditions and lockdown prohibitory orders.

Their lawyers Firdos Mirza and Mir Naan Ali told the court that the group arrived in Gadchiroli in the first week of March from Delhi.

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As lockdown for containing coronavirus came into force, they had no option but to stay on in the district, the lawyers argued.

The state government opposed the bail plea, saying the investigation in the case was not yet over.

Justice Manish Pitale, however, noted that bail could be granted with certain conditions.

The court granted them bail on a surety of Rs 20,000 and directed them to stay in Chandrapur and report to the concerned police station regularly.

A gathering of Tablighi Jamat in Delhi in March turned out to be a major coronavirus hotspot, following which police in various states tracked down those who had attended it and put them in quarantine.