The Allahabad High Court has issued contempt notices to Bareilly District Magistrate Avinash Singh and Senior Superintendent of Police Anurag Arya for allegedly preventing members of the Muslim community from offering namaz inside a vacant house in Mohammadganj village, The Times of India reported on Tuesday.

On Thursday, a bench of Justices Atul Shreedharan and Siddharth Nandan initiated proceedings against the officials under the 1971 Contempt of Courts Act. It also stayed coercive action against petitioner Tarik Khan.

The court has sought responses from the district magistrate and the police officer on March 11, when it will next hear the matter.

The dispute relates to an incident on January 16, when a group of Muslims were stopped while offering prayers inside a vacant house owned by a woman, Reshma Khan. Several Muslim men were detained and four persons had been arrested for allegedly disturbing public order by gathering there, and were later released.

Reshma Khan said that she had permitted the gathering and that the prayers had been held within the premises.

The petitioners had approached the High Court, citing its January 27 ruling in a separate matter that no permission is needed for holding a religious prayer meeting on private property in Uttar Pradesh as long as the activity was within its premises.

The ruling had come on a plea...

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