PRAYAGRAJ, Sept. 20 -- The Allahabad high court has stayed further proceedings in an FIR against chief (Sadar) of Shahi Jama Masjid of Sambhal Zafar Ali for violating prohibitory orders after getting released on bail in the 2024 Sambhal violence case. However, the court made it clear that it shall be open for the police to proceed with the investigation, in accordance with law, by filing a proper complaint in the matter. The bench comprising Justice Siddharth Varma and Justice Abdul Shahid passed the order on September 18 on a petition filed by Zafar Ali and three others. The petitioner's plea was that the FIR should not have been lodged in the present case as the case was a non-cognizable one. At least four people were killed and several others injured in the violence that erupted near Sambhal's Shahi Jama Masjid on November 24 last year during protests against a court-ordered survey of the Mughal era mosque. Following the incident, sub-inspector Deepak Rathi lodged an FIR at the Kotwali police station for offences including rioting and incitement. Zafar Ali was arrested in the matter but was later granted bail in July this year after which a car rally was organised in violation of prohibitory order leading to the registration of the present FIR....