The Allahabad High Court earlier this week declined to entertain a public interest litigation seeking directions to prevent the Uttar Pradesh Police from allegedly interfering with the peaceful display of portraits of Islamic religious leaders, including former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on private properties.
The petition, filed by Islamic organisation Majlis Ulema-E-Hind, sought directions to district police chiefs, superintendents of police and station house officers across Uttar Pradesh to refrain from taking coercive action or detaining persons for peacefully displaying portraits of Shia religious leaders during mourning gatherings.
It also sought directions to restrain the police from removing or interfering with portraits, banners or visual representations of the religious leaders on private residential and commercial properties.
However, on Tuesday, a division bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Manjive Shukla declined to grant the relief, observing that the petition contained only “vague and general” allegations. The bench said that the petitioners only made “general and vague averments” about alleged police interference.
The bench noted that the petition did not identify any specific house or premises where posters had allegedly been displayed or removed.
The court added that if any individual had a specific grievance against a police officer, they could pursue legal remedies.
Khamenei served as Iran’s Supreme Leader from 1989 until he was killed in a joint United States-Israel military strike on February 28. He controlled all branches of the Iranian government and the armed forces.
He was considered a significant figure among Muslims from the Shia community.
After his funeral was delayed because of the conflict in West Asia that followed the strikes, he was buried on Thursday at the Imam Reza shrine in his hometown of Mashhad after a week of funeral processions and mourning ceremonies, Al Jazeera reported.
Written by Sara Varghese. Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.
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