Supreme Court directs Maharashtra to file counter against Zakir Naik’s plea seeking clubbing of FIRs
The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the State of Maharashtra to file a counter affidavit against the maintainability of a writ petition filed by Islamic preacher Zakir Naik seeking the clubbing of multiple FIRs registered against him in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
The Bench of Justice Abhay Oka, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Augustine George Masih passed the directions after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the State of Maharashtra, contended that Naik, who was declared a fugitive by the court, could not seek the remedy under Article 32 of the Constitution.
During the hearing, the Apex Court inquired about the status of the cases filed against Naik.
Representing Naik, Senior Advocate Aditya Sondhi said that there were 43 cases in total.
SG Mehta said that he was under the impression that Naik was withdrawing the petition.
Senior Advocate Sondhi, while stating that he had no such instructions regarding the withdrawal, explained that if the court granted liberty, Naik might approach the concerned High Courts for quashing instead of troubling the Supreme Court, as six FIRs remained pending – four in Maharashtra and two in Karnataka.
The SG apprised the Apex Court that a stay had been granted on the proceedings in 2013. An affidavit was ready, but had not been filed due to the defects in the petition. Reiterating Naik’s fugitive status, the SG said the accused could not give instructions.
The SG pointed out that the petition was defective as per the Registry, and there were objections such as the absence of the petitioner’s signature. He said the defects should be removed from the petition first.
The Bench refused to waive any objections raised by the Registry, noting that it had previously heard cases in the defective category and granted relief on the same too.
SG Mehta further requested the Court to seek an affidavit from Naik on whether he intended to withdraw the petition.
The Bench listed the matter for further hearing on October 23, allowing the respondents to file a counter-affidavit in the meantime.
Both the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) have been interrogating Naik for several years. He has been booked under Section 153A of the IPC for promoting enmity between different religious groups and under Sections 10, 13, and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
In 2017, a special NIA court in Mumbai issued a non-bailable warrant against Naik. The accused failed to appear before the court and is reportedly living in Malaysia.
The Union Government had declared Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) as an unlawful association under the UAPA in 2022. the ban was confirmed in March 2022 by a one-member tribunal headed by Justice DN Patel. The UAPA tribunal noted that IRF’s activities were prejudicial to the sovereignty, unity, and security of India.