By PTI
ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday sought stands of Union and state governments on a plea challenging the prosecution of three alleged PFI activists, arrested by the UP Police on their way to a Hathras village to meet the family of a deceased gang-rape victim.
The three men were arrested by Mathura police on October 5 last year and an FIR was later registered against them alleging that they were going to Hathras with intentions to take undue benefit of the Hathras gang-rape case and foment caste riots in the state.
The bench of justices Surya Prakash Kesarwani and Shamim Ahmed sought the government’s reply on the petition filed by the three alleged PFI activists — Atiq-ur- Rehman from Muzaffar Nagar, Masood from Bahraich and Alam from Rampur.
Following their arrest, the police had alleged that the three had links to the student wing of the Islamic extremist outfit Popular Front of India, the Campus Front of India.
Seeking their release from jail, the petitioners have challenged the order of the magistrate by which they were remanded in judicial custody.
The petitioners said the Mathura chief judicial magistrate did not have the jurisdiction to try the matter or remand them.
They added that Rehman and Masood were going to meet the bereaved family while Alam, a taxi driver, was ferrying them to the destination.
The court fixed January 27 as the next date of hearing in the case.
