In a landmark verdict, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday acquitted 70 Indian Muslims who were falsely implicated in the Tablighi Jamaat COVID-19 case, over four years after they were accused of violating pandemic protocols. The court strongly criticized the Delhi Police for its flawed and biased investigation, calling it a misuse of the legal process influenced by communal prejudice.
The case dates back to March 2020 when hundreds of Muslims from across India and abroad had gathered at the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz. As COVID-19 cases began to rise, the event was quickly vilified, and attendees were blamed for spreading the virus, triggering a wave of Islamophobic media narratives and mass FIRs against Muslim participants.
Delivering the verdict, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma observed that there was no evidence to prove that the accused had willfully defied lockdown rules or intended to spread infection. The court also noted that the police appeared to have acted under media and political pressure, targeting a specific community.
The acquittal is being hailed as a rare moment of judicial correction in what many see as one of the darkest episodes of communal targeting during the pandemic in India. Rights groups have welcomed the judgment, calling it a step toward justice for those wrongfully demonized.
