Allahabad HC directs SP Bahraich to probe case of minors booked for rioting

An outer view of the Allahabad High Court. | Photo Credit: File

The Allahabad High Court has directed the Superintendent of Police (SP), Bahraich, to investigate a case in which minors were allegedly booked for rioting and other serious offences, and to take appropriate action against erring police officials if the allegations are found to be true. A Bench of Justices Amitabh Kumar and Rajesh Singh Chauhan, in an order passed earlier this month, issued the directive while hearing a petition related to an FIR lodged at the Motipur police station in Bahraich district on September 7, 2025. The petitioners were booked under sections relating to rioting, criminal intimidation, insult intended to provoke breach of peace, and destruction of property, as well as provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The petitioners, belonging to a minority community, alleged that their 13-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter were also falsely implicated by the police. They further contended that the offences mentioned in the FIR carry a maximum punishment of less than seven years, and that attempts to arrest them violate the provisions of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita. “The Superintendent of Police, District-Bahraich, is instructed to go through the aforesaid fact carefully, and if those minors have been falsely implicated, the appropriate order may be passed against the erring police officials,” the court said in its October 10 order. The Bench also directed the accused to cooperate with the investigation until its completion, warning that failure to do so could result in withdrawal of protection granted by the court on an application by the prosecution or complainant. “The petitioners may not be unnecessarily harassed, if they respond to the notice being issued by the concerned Investigating Officer to cooperate in the investigation,” the court added.

Published - October 21, 2025 09:01 pm IST