Moradabad Mob Lynching | Allahabad HC Directs UP Govt To File Better Affidavit On Compliance With SC's 'Tehseen Poonawalla' Directions

A Bench of Justice Siddharth and Justice Avnish Saxena sought the affidavit while dealing with a plea filed by the brother of a 37-year-old man killed on suspicion of slaughtering cattle in Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad district.

His petition inter alia seeks a probe into the alleged incident by a Special Investigating Team (SIT) and Rs. 50 Lakh as compensation for the family of the deceased.

On July 10, before the court, the counsel for the petitioner argued that the State had not implemented the mandatory safeguards outlined in paragraphs 40.13 to 40.21 of the Tehseen Poonawalla ruling ["B. Remedial Measures"], including the Top court's directions regarding prompt FIR registration, nodal officer oversight, timely charge-sheet filing, victim compensation, etc.

In its order, the High Court recorded that only the Investigating Officer had filed a counter-affidavit in the matter, and the UP Govt had not shown any steps taken in line with the binding directions of the Apex Court.

Thus, the division bench remarked that the UP Govt should file a better counter affidavit/compliance affidavit keeping in view the directions of the Apex Court in the case of Tehseen S. Poonawalla case within a period of 3 weeks.

Furthermore, regarding the merits of the matter, noting that while the FIR should have been lodged by the police under Section 103(2) of the BNS [mob lynching], it was instead registered under Section 103(1) [Murder], the Court stayed the investigation in the FIR until the next date of hearing.

The matter will now be heard next on August 5, 2025.