In a major jolt to the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh, the Allahabad high court on Friday stayed its move to withdraw terror charges against 16 persons accused of involvement in terror activities.
The high court’s Lucknow bench, referring the matter to a larger bench, posted it for next hearing in six weeks. Friday’s order came after the state government filed its reply in the case.
The high court had earlier questioned the state’s move to withdraw terror cases and sought a clarification. The court wanted to know if the state had consulted the Centre before withdrawing cases as most anti-terror laws are Central laws. The court had also questioned the legality of the decision.
The Samajwadi Party, in its 2012 Assembly election manifesto, had promised to release “innocent Muslim youth” falsely implicated in terror cases. Keeping its promise, the state government filed a petition in a court in Barabanki saying it wanted to withdraw terror charges against two terror suspects, Tariq Qasmi and Khalid Mujahid, both accused in the Gorakhpur, Lucknow and Faizabad serial blasts case. The local court in Barabanki rejected the state’s plea to withdraw terror cases against the two on technical grounds, for non-compliance of paperwork formalities.
Khalid Mujahid died May 18 after he fell ill while returning to Lucknow jail from a Faizabad court.