PRAYAGRAJ: The Allahabad high court on Friday stayed the arrest of Samajwadi Party MP Ziaur Rahman Barq in connection with the violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district during a survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid.
The HC, however, refused to quash the FIR registered in the case. A bench of justices Rajiv Gupta and Azahar Husain Idrisi told the MP to cooperate with the investigators. The bench said that the prayer made in the petition cannot be entertained and as such, “no interference is warranted”, as of now. However, considering the fact that all the offences mentioned in the FIR are punishable with a jail term up to 7 years, the court said in case Barq is arrested in the case, the authorities shall ensure that the specific provisions contained in section 35 of Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita and the guidelines related to arrests issued by the Supreme Court in the case of Arnesh Kumar Vs. State of Bihar are followed.
