Police in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, have filed a case against Samajwadi Party district vice-president Haji Mohammad Usman for offering prayers at the local circuit house. The case was filed under Sections 285 and 292 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
A video shows Usman praying behind a parked car. Police claim this obstructed the movement of vehicles and people at the circuit house, though the video does not show any other person or vehicle being obstructed.
Usman is the uncle of Samajwadi Party legislator Mohammad Fahim Irfan. He had gone to the circuit house to attend a meeting between party leaders and Lal Bihari Yadav, the leader of the opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council.
The FIR was filed based on a complaint from Anit Kumar, an assistant engineer at the Public Works Department. Local Hindutva organizations had earlier also expressed outrage over the video of the prayer.
The report noted that while the Uttar Pradesh government treats praying on the street as an offense, praying at a government facility is not illegal.