Allahabad HC sets aside detention order against man booked under NSA for FB post on Babri Masjid

Lucknow, Sep 07: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday set aside a detention order passed against a man under the stringent National Security Act for a Facebook post over Babri Masjid, saying there was a delay in disposing of his representation by the central government.

The court directed authorities to release the detenu forthwith if he is not wanted in any other case.

A bench of Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Saroj Yadav passed the order on a habeas corpus petition moved on the behalf of Mohd Faiyyaz Mansoori.

In its order, the bench said, "There was a delay in disposal of the representation of the petitioner by the central government and having regard to the nature of detention and rigor of law, we are of the view that there was disproportionate delay at the end of the central government."

"On this count alone, the detention order is liable to be quashed," it said.

The petitioner was booked for allegedly making a provocative post on Facebook over Babri Masjid.

Upset over this, Sagar Kapoor had lodged a complaint at Mohammadi police station in Lakhimpur Kheri on August 6, 2020, following which an FIR was registered and the petitioner was arrested.

Later, the state government imposed the NSA on him.

Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Sushil Kumar Singh argued that the detention and consequential orders were bad, because the central government made the delay in deciding the petitioner's representation.