2007 Gorakhpur dargah burning case: HC to hear petition as ‘fresh’

ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad high court has directed to put up as “fresh” a petition challenging an order of additional district judge (ADJ), Gorakhpur that was in favour of Yogi Adityanath and six others in the ‘dargah burning case’ of Gorakhpur of 2007.

The ADJ had set aside the order of the chief judicial magistrate (CJM), who had taken cognizance of the chargesheet filed against Adityanath and the six others in the case.

Hearing an application by Rasheed Khan, manager of the dargah and another person, Justice Rahul Chaturvedi directed to put up the matter on December 13, 2017 in the list of freshly filed cases.

The petitioner had lodged an FIR on January 28, 2007 at Gorakhpur’s

Kotwali police station, alleging that the then MP Yogi Adityanath and six others had burnt the dargah and looted its cash box.

Thereafter, the state government had granted sanction to prosecute Yogi and others.

The police submitted a chargesheet against the accused before the CJM, Gorakhpur who, on December 22, 2009, took cognizance of the matter and directed the concerned authorities to proceed with the criminal trial.

Later, one of the accused Mahesh Khemka filed a revision before the ADJ challenging the order of the CJM. The ADJ, on January 28, 2017, set aside the CJM’s order.

Now, the manager of the dargah has challenged the ADJ’s order.