Parwez Parvaz, who had moved the Allahabad High Court in 2007 seeking an FIR against Yogi Adityanath, has been convicted in a 2018 gangrape case. According to reports, the 65-year-old Parvaz has been sentenced to life imprisonment along with another co-accused in a 2018 gangrape case by the district sessions court of Gorakhpur.
Parvaz and another person were accused of gang-raping a 40-year-old woman on June 3, 2018. In her complaint, the victim had said that she had visited Jumman Baba on June 3, 2018, for “seeking remedies” for her marital problems. However, the accused had taken her to an isolated place and raped her at gunpoint along with a person who Jumman called Parvez Bhai.
“District and Sessions Judge Govind Vallabh Sharma on Tuesday sentenced the two accused – Parwez Parvaz and Mehmood alias Jumman – to life imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 each on both and ordered that Rs 40,000 from the fine be given to the gangrape victim,” government counsel Yashpal Singh said.
Meanwhile, Parvaz’s lawyer Miftahul Islam said that they will be challenging the conviction in a higher court.
The lawyer alleged that they were not allowed to submit written arguments on Tuesday. The judgment was pronounced without any arguments, Islam said. The government counsel has however said that Parvaz’ lawyers were given enough time to submit their arguments.
Parvaz’s allegations against Yogi Adityanath
In 2007, Parvaz had moved the Allahabad High Court seeking registration of an FIR against Yogi Adityanath, who was then an MP from Gorakhpur, alleging that he delivered a hate speech.
An FIR was lodged by Parvez Parwaz in 2008, in which he had accused the then Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath, mayor Anju Chaudhri, then MLA Radha Mohan Agarwal and one more person of inciting communal violence.
Parvaz had alleged that the clashes had broken out in the city after Yogi Adityanath had allegedly incited the public outside the railway station. Yogi Adityanath was speaking in response to the killing of a Hindu youth Raj Kumar Agrahri, who was stabbed to death in a clash between Hindu and Muslim groups during Moharram processions.
Yogi Adityanath was also arrested and sent to jail for 15 days. In May 2017, the Uttar Pradesh government refused to give sanction to prosecution against Chief Minister in the case in the 2007 hate speech case. In 2018, The petitioners had then filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court challenging the UP government’s refusal to grant sanction to prosecute Adityanath in the hate speech case.
However, the Allahabad High Court had dismissed the writ petition filed by Parvaz against Yogi Adityanath after it allowed the UP government to not prosecute Adityanath.
