In a significant development, the Allahabad High Court has granted bail to Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, a well-known Islamic scholar and propagator from Phulat, Uttar Pradesh. Siddiqui was arrested by the Anti-Terrorist Squad of Uttar Pradesh Police in September 2021 on charges of converting people to Islam. The bench of Justice Attau Rahman Masoodi and Justice Saroj Yadav passed this order today on the bail plea moved by Maulana Siddiqui.
Maulana Siddiqui’s arrest had drawn severe criticism from Muslim community leaders who had questioned the allegations against him, saying that propagating one’s religion is a constitutional right and that conversion is not a crime. Maulana Siddiqui is one of the famous Islamic scholars of western Uttar Pradesh and the chairman of the Global Peace Center. He runs the Jamia Imam Waliullah Trust.
It is worth noting that Maulana Siddiqui was arrested along with other Muslim scholars, including Mohammad Umar Gautam and Mufti Qazi Jahangir Qasmi, on the same charges under the UP ‘Anti love Jihad’ Law. However, with the granting of bail to Maulana Siddiqui, it remains to be seen how the case will progress for the other two scholars.
Senior Advocate I. B. Singh, assisted by Advocate Zia Ul Qayyum, appeared for the petitioner in this case.
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