SRINAGAR: Senior CPI(M) leader and former Rajya Sabha member Brinda Karat has written to President of India Droupadi Murmu seeking her urgent intervention in the case related to the mob lynching of Md Akhlaq in Uttar Pradesh’s Bisahada village in September 2015, alleging that the state government is attempting to subvert the judicial process by withdrawing the prosecution.
In a letter dated December 13, 2025, released by the CPI(M) Central Committee, Karat said the Uttar Pradesh Governor had granted written permission to the state government to proceed with what she described as a “wholly illegal and unjust” move to withdraw the case, even though key prosecution evidence had already been recorded by the court. She said the state government, with the Governor’s approval, has filed an affidavit before a district court in Greater Noida seeking withdrawal of the entire case.
Karat told the President that she was constrained to write directly to her because the Governor is appointed by, and answerable to, the President. She urged the President to intervene in the interests of justice and direct the Governor to withdraw the permission granted to the state government.
Recalling the incident, Karat said Md Akhlaq, a resident of Bisahada in Gautam Budh Nagar district, was lynched by a mob outside his home on September 28, 2015, while his son Daanish suffered grievous injuries in the same attack. She said a case was registered under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including murder and attempt to murder, and that the killing had triggered nationwide outrage at the time, with assurances from the authorities that those responsible would be punished.
According to Karat, the chargesheet was filed, and the trial commenced, and in 2022, the victim’s daughter, a direct witness, deposed before the court, naming and identifying all the accused. She pointed out that the evidence has been formally recorded and that statements from two other direct witnesses are still pending.
At this stage, she said, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to seek withdrawal of the case on grounds she termed “utterly indefensible”, including the claim that lathis were used and not guns, that there was no personal animosity with the victim, and that continuation of the trial could lead to communal disharmony. Karat alleged that delays caused by the prosecution in producing witnesses are now being cited as a justification for withdrawing the case.
Describing the move as politically motivated, Karat said it amounted to a blatant misuse of Section 321 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and was aimed at undermining the entire judicial process. She questioned whether the Governor should not have advised the state government against withdrawing a case involving murder, attempted murder and mob lynching, and whether such a decision would set a dangerous precedent for similar cases in the future.
Karat informed the President that the matter was urgent, as the affidavit filed by the state government, with the Governor’s approval, was scheduled to be taken up by the court on December 12, 2025, but was postponed at the prosecution’s request.
