Haryana: 57 Tablighi Jamaat Members Found Guilty Of Violating Social Distancing Rules, Fined Rs 1,000

Fifty-seven foreign nationals linked to Tablighi Jamaat have been found guilty of violating social distancing rules by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Haryana’s Nuh district. They have been asked to pay a fine of Rs 1,000 as a result, NDTV has reported.

Out of the 57 Tablighis, 22 hailed from Indonesia, 25 from Sri Lanka, six from Thailand, two from Côte d'Ivoire, and one each from Senegal and Mozambique.

The report claims that these Tablighi Jamaat members were found to be violating social distancing in a building on 2 April.

After being apprehended by authorities they were booked under sections 269, 270, 188, 120 B of the IPC and 14 B, C of the Foreigner Act.

During the course of the trial the counsel for Tablighis claimed that the defendants had no ill-intention of spreading Covid-19 - a claim accepted by the court.

While delivering the verdict the magistrate ruled that the foreign nationals were not aware of the orders passed by the district magistrate and deleted all sections excepts 188. They were fined Rs 1,000 and authorities were asked to safely send them back to their respective countries.