The arrest of 12 Muslim men in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly on Friday for praying inside an empty house even though there were no allegations of damage or violence is not legally tenable, legal experts said
The owner of the house said that the prayers were being conducted with her permission.
This is not the first time that the Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has prosecuted Muslims simply for praying. However, legal experts told Scroll the laws used to book these men were being misused.
The police described the Friday prayer as “illegal” and thearrests as a “precautionary measure”, reports said. The authorities invoked Section 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Surakhsha Sanhita, which allows the police to arrest, without a warrant, anyone suspected of planning a serious offence. In such cases, detention cannot exceed 24 hours.
The police said they “acted on villagers’ complaints and the 12 men were bound down for peacekeeping”. The arrest took place after a video of the men praying, taken surreptitiously by an unidentified person, went viral on social media.
In UP's Bareilly, a video of 12 people offering prayers had surfaced on social media. All 12 were arrested. pic.twitter.com/DM8OYUToiJ
— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) January 18, 2026
‘Legally untenable’
Senior advocate practising at the Supreme Court,...
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