Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court on Thursday dismissed a writ petition challenging the order of state government, whereby it had refused to grant sanction to prosecute Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in connection with 2007 Gorakhpur riots case.
In the writ petition, the petitioner had also requested the High Court to issue directives for getting the probe into Gorakhpur riot case be handed over to an independent agency. UP CM Yogi Adityanath, the then MP of Gorakhpur, is one of the accused in the case.
Dismissing the writ petition filed by Parvez Parwaz and Asad Hayat, a division bench comprising Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Akhilesh Chandra Sharma observed that the court did not find any procedural irregularity in the state government’s order of refusal to grant sanction to prosecute the accused in this case.
“Further, no error in the investigation is also found. Hence, no interference of the High Court is called for under Article 226 of the Constitution (writ jurisdiction),” observed the bench.
Notably, on May 11, 2017, Yogi Adityanath government had apprised the Allahabad High
Court that it had "denied permission" for the prosecution of the chief minister in 2007 Gorakhpur riots case.
In fact, in January 2007, 10 lives were lost in communal clashes across Gorakhpur. The situation precipitated after young boy, Raj Kumar Agrahari, was hospitalised following clashes between two groups
during a Muharram procession in Gorakhpur city.
Yogi Adityanath, the then Gorakhpur MP, was instructed by the District Magistrate not to visit the site as it may increase tension.
Initially, Adityanath agreed but eventually defied the DM's order when Agrahari succumbed to his
injuries at a nearby hospital. Adityanath announced a "non-violent dharna" at the site, with a group of his
followers seeking action against culprits of Agrahari’s killing. But inflammatory speeches were made and some of his followers went on to set a nearby mausoleum to fire.
To control the rapidly worsening situation, local police imposed curfew, but Adityanath defied it too. He was, subsequently, arrested and jailed for 10 days on charges of disturbing peace.
His arrest, however, only added fuel to the fire in the city. Activists of Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) went berserk and set many coaches of the Mumbai-Gorakhpur Godan Express afire.
The situation escalated and full blown riots gripped entire Gorakhpur killing 10 persons. Public property was destroyed as HYV activists put a lot of buses, police vehicles and trains ablaze.