NEW DELHI – The Bombay High Court gives a blow to Dr Zakir Naik as onWednesday it refused to grant relief to Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, who isfacing charges of inciting communal disharmony and committing unlawfulactivities, observing that he did not show any interest or desire to helpthe probe agencies.
A division bench of justices R M Savant and Revati Mohite Dere was hearinga petition filed by Naik seeking a direction to the National InvestigationAgency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to submit reports on theprobe carried out by them against Naik.
In the petition, Naik also sought direction to the Ministry of ExternalAffairs to cancel the revocation of his passport.
The court said it cannot pass any order pertaining to revocation ofpassport and asked Naik to file a separate petition for the same.
“Regarding the other reliefs sought in the petition…we do not see howthis court can consider them when the petitioner has not even presentedhimself before the probe agencies. The petitioner is ensconced in Malaysiaand is seeking a direction to the agencies to submit probe reports,” thecourt said in its order.
The offences registered against Naik are under section 153 (a) of IPC forpromoting enmity among different religions and under sections 10, 13 and 18of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for being a member of anunlawful association, abetting an unlawful activity and criminal conspiracy.
“These are serious offences in which a person faces maximum punishment upto life imprisonment. The petitioner has been declared a proclaimedoffender and extradition proceedings have been initiated with theauthorities in Malaysia. Under such circumstances, this court cannot grantany relief to the petitioner,” Justice Savant said.
The court added that Naik should have ideally come back to India andpresented himself before the investigating agencies. “Such long distancething will not work. In the absentia of the petitioner, how can weentertain such pleas,” it said.
Naik is facing a probe by the NIA and the ED after his sermons on his PeaceTV were cited as a reason by Bangladesh for an attack in Dhaka in 2016,which left 22 people dead.
Naik’s NGO — Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) — has also been declaredunlawful since 2016 and is being probed by the ED over allegations of moneylaundering to the tune of more than Rs 18 crore.