The Allahabad High Court, on 12 December, said that the Government of Uttar Pradesh is liable to withdraw cases lodged against terror accused but for all these to take place it needs to seek permission from the Union government and after the public prosecutor’s nod that the reason cited for withdrawal is genuine in every case. The court also noted that the stay on withdrawal of terror cases will continue and directed to place the matter before the two-member division bench for final adjudication at the earliest. Earlier, the Samajwadi Party had promised in its election manifesto to withdraw terror cases against Muslim youth who have been falsely implicated. Accordingly, after coming to power, it moved the applications in lower courts to withdraw cases against the 2007 serial blasts accused in various cities of the state.
However, the decision was challenged in the Allahabad High Court by some lawyers. The petition was dismissed. Later, another petition was filed in the Lucknow Bench of the High Court. The bench stayed the withdrawal of cases on June 7 earlier this year and referred the matter to the Chief Justice of the High Court to decide on some specific queries. The Chief Justice formed a 3-member larger bench comprising Justice Devi Prasad Singh, Justice Ajai Lamba and Justice Ashok Pal Singh to address the queries.