Gorakhpur Riots: Allahabad HC Dismisses Plea Seeking CBI Probe Against Yogi Adityanath

New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition demanding CBI investigation into UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s alleged role in the 2007 riots in Gorakhpur, his then Lok Sabha constituency.

A division bench, headed by Justices Krishna Murari and AC Sharma, delivered the verdict and declined to entertain the petition against the BJP leader.

This judicial victory for Yogi comes just days after the CM had got a major reprieve from the Allahabad High Court, which dismissed a petition seeking criminal charges against him in connection with the riots.

Passing an order on the revision petition filed by Rashid Khan, Justice BK Narayana directed CJM Gorakhpur to decide the matter afresh. The verdict was earlier reserved by the High Court on December 22, 2017.

The petition, which stood dismissed, was filed in 2008 by Mohammad Asad Hayat and Parvez. The Gorakhpur riots had resulted in one person’s death and were blamed on Yogi’s alleged hate speech. The then Gorakhpur MP was arrested and he remained in custody for 11 days.

The petition had demanded a probe against Yogi under sections 302, 307, 153A, 395 and 295 of the IPC, which pertain to murder and rioting.

The case was being investigated by the CB-CID of Uttar Pradesh Police and the hate speech recording tested positive against a voice sample of Yogi in 2013. The CB-CID, however, couldn’t charge-sheet the then MP since the Akhilesh Yadav-led government didn’t sanction the prosecution order.

In the last affidavit, filed on February 17 last year, the CB-CID said it hadn’t received permission from the UP government. An investigating agency needs the government’s approval to prosecute any person booked under sections 153a and 295 of the IPC.

The petitioners had raised apprehensions that the CB-CID may not conduct an impartial inquiry.

In the Assembly elections last year, the BJP emerged victorious and picked Yogi as the CM. He subsequently vacated his Lok Sabha seat and was elected to the state’s upper house.

In February this year, the Uttar Pradesh CM got a major reprieve from the Allahabad High Court, which dismissed the revision petition seeking to file a criminal case against him in connection with the riots.

Passing an order on the revision petition filed by Rashid Khan, Justice BK Narayana, however, directed the CJM Gorakhpur to decide the matter afresh. The verdict was earlier reserved by the High Court on December 22, 2017.