Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court has summoned the district magistrate and SSP of Bareilly to appear on Mar 25 over allegations of restricting namaz inside a house.The order was passed by a division bench comprising Justices Saral Srivastava and Garima Prashad on a petition filed by a Bareilly resident Tarik Khan, who alleged that authorities did not permit namaz inside the house on Jan 16.Appearing on behalf of the state, additional advocate general Anup Trivedi told the court that they never disrupted namaz and around 50 people regularly prayed there. On Feb 12, a division bench had granted time to counsel for the state to seek instructions in the case and had issued a notice to DM and SSP under Contempt of Courts Act for flouting its order dated Jan 27, 2026 passed in Maranatha Full Gospel Ministries vs. State of UP and two others.Earlier in the case of Maranatha Full Gospel Ministries, the court had observed, “Under the circumstances, the present writ petition is disposed of by observing that the petitioner has right to conduct the prayer as per convenience in his own private premises without any permission from the state govt.”“However, if any occasion arises where it has to spill over the public road or public property, this court mandates that the petitioner shall at least intimate the police and take any requisite permission under the law, if required,” it had said. On Monday, the court asked state counsel to address the court on the question that there has been violation of petitioner’s fundamental right of freedom to religion.
