Cases against 70 Indian Muslims quashed after years of Covid-era Islamophobic witch hunt

NEW DELHI, India  (MNTV) — The Delhi High Court has quashed 16 First Information Reports (FIRs) and all related charge sheets against 70 Indian Muslims associated with the Tablighi Jamaat, five years after they were vilified across India for allegedly spreading COVID-19.

The ruling marks a major legal repudiation of the Islamophobic hysteria that engulfed India in 2020, when the Tablighi Jamaat — a global Islamic missionary movement — was accused of triggering a nationwide outbreak through a religious congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz. 

The Hindutva ecosystem, amplified by pro-government godi media (Indian media often referred to for its pro-Modi coverage), labeled the event a deliberate act of “corona jihad” — a term used to falsely portray Muslims as intentionally weaponizing the virus against Hindus.

In its judgment made public on Friday, the Delhi High Court concluded that the allegations were baseless. “There is not a whisper in the FIRs or the charge sheets that petitioners were found COVID-19 positive or had moved out negligently or unlawfully,” Justice Neena Bansal Krishna ruled. “Merely living in a Markaz did not amount to a violation of government orders.”

The court noted that the accused had gathered before the imposition of any prohibitory orders. Once the Indian government imposed a sudden lockdown starting March 25, 2020, those present at the Markaz were left without any option but to remain inside. “They were rendered helpless,” the court stated, adding that continuing the cases would be “an abuse of the process” and “not in the interest of justice.”

FIRs had been filed at multiple Delhi police stations between March 31 and April 2, 2020. The accused were charged under sections of the Indian Penal Code, Epidemic Diseases Act, and Disaster Management Act. The Delhi Police’s Crime Branch filed 48 charge sheets and 11 supplementary ones, but failed to produce any evidence suggesting criminal intent or public health risk.

Defense lawyers argued that the charges were politically motivated and manufactured “to bring them within the four corners of criminal offence, even though they are patently false.”

The Tablighi congregation had taken place between March 13–15, well before the Indian government imposed a ‘public curfew’ on March 22 and a nationwide lockdown from March 25. The accused remained at the mosque until they were forcibly moved to quarantine facilities.

Over 950 foreign nationals who attended the gathering were also targeted, many of whom were blacklisted and criminally charged. While most accepted plea bargains to avoid prolonged detention, Indian courts later discharged or acquitted dozens due to lack of evidence.

In 2021, then-Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana criticized Indian media’s coverage of the Tablighi Jamaat incident, remarking that “everything in this country is shown with a communal angle by a section of the media… The country is going to get a bad name.”

Analysts say the case became a defining example of how public health was weaponized by Hindu supremacist forces to stigmatize Muslims during the pandemic — deepening India’s already growing Islamophobia under the BJP-led government.