Allahabad HC Quashes Nizamuddin Markaz Case, Cites 'Presumption and Assumption'

The Allahabad High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against two men from Jaunpur who were booked more than six years ago for allegedly travelling to the Hazrat Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Justice Gautam Chowdhary, in an order passed on September 18, 2026, set aside the First Information Report against Mohd Faizan and another accused, observing that allowing the case to proceed would amount to an abuse of the process of the court and of law.

The two were booked under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, along with other charges, including attempt to murder.

According to the FIR, police had received information that the accused had gone to Delhi to attend a religious gathering at the Markaz. It was alleged that after returning, they stayed at their homes with their families, and there was apprehension that they could have contracted the coronavirus and passed it on to others.

The petitioners contended that the case against them rested on unfounded allegations and that the investigation leading to the chargesheet had been inadequate. They also pointed out that while they had initially been quarantined, their subsequent COVID-19 tests had come back negative. The State did not dispute the facts placed before the court by the applicants.

The court noted that the FIR was lodged on the apprehension that the applicants might be infected and could infect others, even though their tests had returned negative. It held that the applicants had been falsely implicated with frivolous allegations driven by ulterior motive and mala fide intent, and that the case was built only on presumption and assumption.