Thrashed A Man In Street Brawl? Offer Namaz Five Times A Day: Malegaon Court Order Draws Flak And Jokes

A recent verdict given by a court in Malegaon city of Nashik district in Maharashtra has drawn flak and amusing reactions.

The judge ordered a man, convicted for thrashing another man in a street brawl, to offer namaz five times a day for 21 days.

For prescribing this ‘punishment’, the court used Section 3 of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958, which empowers magistrates to release a convict after warning of admonishment.

The case pertains to an incident from 2010 where a man named Rauf Khan Umar Khan was booked by Malegaon police under IPC sections 323 (causing hurt), 325 (causing grievous injuries), 504 (insult to breach peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

As per the complainant, who is also from Khan’s religious community, Rauf toppled his bike with his autorickshaw by driving it recklessly. When the latter confronted him, Rauf beat him up. The incident took place near Sonapura Masjid. 

In the trial that ensued, Rauf was held guilty under Section 323 but acquitted for other charges.

On 27 February, Magistrate Tejwant Singh Sandhu ordered that Rauf must do namaz five times a day for the next 21 days and also plant two trees in the mosque premises to avoid jail time.

Swarajya accessed the court order.

The judge observed that during the trial, Rauf told the court that although he was a religious man, he could not take out time for namaz five times a day.

The verdict drew sharp reactions on social media. A Twitter user asked if any court would tell a Hindu convict to do Sandhya aarti for eleven days.

Several users recalled the 2019 order by a Jharkhand court where a woman student named Richa Bharti, booked for hustling religious sentiments of Muslims through a Facebook post, was told to distribute copies of Quran at educational institutions.

Others called the Malegaon court’s order “ridiculous”. The verdict has come at a time when the Judiciary is facing flak from the public over its alleged anti-Hindu bias.

In this context, read this piece by Swarajya’s Editorial Director R Jagannathan titled 'How Judiciary’s Cultural Illiteracy Is Working Against Hindu Interests'.