Charges against 70 Tablighi Jamaat members quashed by Delhi HC in Covid case

In early April 2020, during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in India, the Tablighi Jamaat, an international Islamic missionary organisation, faced allegations of worsening the health crisis.

However, more than five years later, the Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed the charges in 16 FIRs and subsequent proceedings filed against 70 Indian members of the group.

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna announced in open court that all related proceedings, including 16 FIRs and the resulting chargesheets, were quashed. A detailed judgment is expected to be released soon.

The individuals had been accused under multiple provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including criminal conspiracy, for allegedly sheltering foreign nationals in various mosques between March 24 and March 30, 2020, in violation of Covid-19 protocols.

Though the FIRs initially listed 195 foreign nationals, most of the charge sheets did not formally accuse them, and magistrate courts often declined to take cognisance, citing the legal principle of double jeopardy.

At the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak in India, the Delhi Police Crime Branch filed a case against seven Indian nationals under Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, along with various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)—including 188, 269, 270, 271, and 120-B—and provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, Indian Express reported.

Following this, the Crime Branch submitted 48 main charge sheets and 11 supplementary ones. These included charges under Section 14(b) of the Foreigners Act, 1946, targeting 955 foreign nationals. Of these, 911 entered plea bargains before magistrate courts.

Subsequently, 28 more FIRs were registered across Delhi, including one at Chandni Mahal Police Station, involving 193 individuals—both Indian and foreign nationals—on similar grounds. In the Chandni Mahal case, the magistrate court accepted the chargesheet against the Indian accused.

Amid these developments, the Tablighi Jamaat—a global Islamic missionary movement—was blamed by several political figures for exacerbating the pandemic situation.

The central government also blacklisted over 950 foreign nationals, alleging they violated emergency protocols by attending a Jamaat event at its headquarters (markaz) in Delhi.