New Delhi: The Allahabad high court recently granted pre-arrest bail to Mohammad Chand, one of the people who had offered namaz inside the premises of the Nand Baba temple in Mathura. In its order, the bench of Justice Siddharth noted that “irrational and indiscriminate arrests are gross violation of human rights”.Going into the background of the case, the court noted that “there is allegation against the applicant that he along with co-accused, Faisal Khan, have performed namaz inside the temple without consent of priest and its photographs were made viral.” It added that “the news was shown on the television. Thereafter first information report has been lodged on the allegation that this act of the applicant and co-accused shows disrespect for the religious feeling of other community and there is possibility of deterioration in the communal harmony. It is also suspected that the applicants are receiving foreign funds.”The court further recorded that the “counsel for the applicant has submitted that co-accused, Faisal Khan, is a renowned social activist who has revived Khudai Khidmatgar movement of India and is working for maintaining communal harmony for the last 25 years.”As for Chand, it noted that the “applicant is his companion” and “in this connection he undertook yatra for visiting temples. He was offered prasad and lunch by chief priest of the temple and he also bestowed blessings on him as (was) clear from photographs in dispute.”Also read: Dissent and Our Search for ‘Be-gam Pura’, the City Without SorrowsThe court said it has also been submitted that applicant has been falsely implicated in this case. “Only on the basis of photographs which went viral the applicant cannot be said to have intention to disturb the communal harmony of the society. He did not enter into the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, rather he performed namaz outside of the temple with the permission of the priest of the temple as (is) clear from the viral photographs.”The court also held that “the allegation of receiving foreign funds is without basis” and recalled how “co-accused, Faisal Khan, was arrested and enlarged on bail” on December 18 by the high court. It also noted that Chand had “definite apprehension that he may be arrested by the police any time”.As for the government counsel’s contention that “in view of the seriousness of the allegations made against the applicant, he is not entitled to grant of anticipatory bail,” the bench held that this apprehension was “not founded on any material on record”.Justice Siddharth further held that “personal liberty is a very precious fundamental rights and it should be curtailed only when it becomes imperative. According to the peculiar facts and circumstances of the peculiar case the arrest of an accused should be made.”He added that “the courts have repeatedly held that arrest should be the last option for the police and it should be restricted to those exceptional cases where arresting the accused is imperative or his custodial interrogation is required. Irrational and indiscriminate arrests are gross violation of human rights.”Granting anticipatory bail to the accused, he said: “Hence without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case and considering the nature of accusations and antecedents of applicant, he is directed to be enlarged on anticipatory bail as per the Constitution Bench judgment of the Apex Court in the case of Sushila Aggarwal vs. State (NCT of Delhi) 2020.”