Tablighi Jamaat: HC allows plea for alternate accommodation of 65 foreigners

NEW DELHI: After a petition by 65 foreign nationals connected to Tablighi Jamaat, who had attended a religious congregation at the Nizamuddin Markaz, claimed that they were being kept at the Meeraj International School here under unhygienic conditions and sought for alternate accommodation, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday allowed the request and held that for any such requests from hereon, the petitioners need just approach the Delhi Police who would then forward it to the Central government for approval and the entire process should be completed in a week.

A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rajnish Bhatnagar allowed the foreigners’ request after representatives of the Central Government, Delhi government and the Delhi Police had said they had no objections to them being moved to an alternate accommodation as suggested by the petitioners.

The bench allowed the application for a modification in the high court’s May 28 order, which had directed shifting of 955 foreigners from institutional quarantine centres to nine alternate accommodations, by seeking to include three more places of alternate accommodation for the foreign nationals co nected to Tablighi Jamaat in light of ongoing criminal proceedings. Accordingly, the 65 foreigners were allowed to be shifted from the Meeraj International School to the Texan Public School in Maujpur, one of three alternate locations suggested by the petitioners.

The application also said, Apart from the Texan Public School, the community has now identified two additional places of accommodation, which may be used in the future, if need be, to house any of the 955 foreign nationals in question. The community once again undertakes to bear all costs for shifting accommodation and further duly notify the Delhi Police of the whereabouts of the foreign nationals, the petition had submitted.