In a big relief to the family of Mohammed Akhlaq, who was lynched to death by a violent mob over suspicion of consuming beef in the Bisada village near Dadri in Greater Noida last year, the Allahabad High Court on Friday stayed their arrest in connection with the case. The court, however, refused relief to Akhlaq’s brother Jan Mohammad, the prime accused in the case. Notably, cow slaughter is banned in Uttar Pradesh with a prison term of up to two years.
Those, whose arrests were stayed by a bench of Justices Prabhat Chandra Tripathi and Ramesh Sinha, included Akhlaq’s wife Ikraman and mother Asgari. On July 14, a court in Greater Noida directed the police to lodge an FIR against members of Akhlaq’s family. Chief Judicial Magistrate Vijay Kumar also asked police to investigate the entire matter again, following a petition by a Bisahda resident.The family then moved the Allahabad HC against a recent court order directing a police case be filed against them for storing and consuming beef.
The petition, which named seven family members, including Akhlaq’s wife Ikraman and mother Asgari, came in the wake of a forensic report in May that claimed the meat found in Akhlaq’s house was that of a cow or its progeny. The petitioner, backed by those accused of Akhlaq’s murder, alleged that the family had killed a calf and that Akhlaq’s brother Jaan Mohammad was seen slitting the throat of the animal.
Reacting over the controversy, national president of Rashtriya Ulama Council, Maulana Amir Rahsadi Madni alleged that evidences in the case were “tampered” and raised questions over reports of Dadri and Mathura lab reports on the sample of meat sent for examination. “First of all, the meat recovered was more than 150 metres away from Akhlaq's house,” he said.