PRAYAGRAJ, Aug. 9 -- The Allahabad high court on Friday granted interim relief to Samajwadi Party MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq by staying proceedings against him in the Sambhal violence case at the lower court level. The high court asked the state government to respond within three weeks regarding Barq's petition challenging the charge sheet filed in the case. The next hearing is scheduled for September 9. Justice Sameer Jain of the high court passed the order on Barq's petition. In June, the Uttar Pradesh Police filed a charge sheet against Barq and others regarding the violence that erupted near the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal in November last year, resulting in four deaths. Appearing for the MP, his counsel Imran Ullah argued that the Barq's speech was not communal and had not incited the public at large for violence. Secondly, the applicant was not present on the date of the incident, when violence broke out and he (the MP) was in Bangalore, the counsel said. Besides, Suhail Iqbal, a Sambhal violence accused named in the FIR, has been exonerated by the police, he said. The applicant at no point of time did any act to disturb the public peace, added the counsel for the MP. The state government counsel opposed the plea. The case pertains to violence that broke out on November 24, 2024, during a survey at the Jama Masjid in Sambhal. Following the incident, sub-inspector Deepak Rathi lodged an FIR at the Kotwali police station against Sambhal MP Barq, Samajwadi Party MLA Iqbal Mahmood's son Suhail Iqbal, and several hundred others, accusing them of offences including rioting and incitement. The state government as well as sub-inspector Deepak Rathi have been named as respondents in the case....