34 Tablighi attendees get `stand till court rises' punishment

Tablighi Jamaat's congregation in Delhi in March was later found to have been a coronavirus hotspot. Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Sneha Singh on Tuesday directed 10 people including four from Tanzania, two from South Africa and one from Sierra Leone to stand till the court rose.

Three courts in Madhya Pradesh have awarded day-long sentences to 34 people including 31 foreigners who attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi but did not follow isolation norms on arrival in the state. The courts, in separate cases, asked the accused to stand till the proceedings for the day got over.

The courts also imposed fines ranging from Rs 5,500to Rs 7,000 after the accused confessed to violating norms laid down by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Tablighi Jamaat's congregation in Delhi in March was later found to have been a coronavirus hotspot.

Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Sneha Singh on Tuesday directed 10 people including four from Tanzania, two from South Africa and one from Sierra Leone to stand till the court rose. The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 5,500 on each of them, prosecution departments media cell in-charge Manoj Kumar Tripathi said.

They admitted to flouting the advisory of the state government and prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrPC clamped by Bhopal collector, he said. JMFC Anurag Singh Kushwahaon Monday awarded the same punishment (to stand till the court rose) to 12 Kyrgyzstan nationals and imposed a fine of Rs 6,000 on each of them.

JMFC Pushpak Pathak on Monday awarded the same punishment to 12 Indonesian nationals besides fine of Rs 7,000 each after they confessed to violating the norms, Tripathi said.