PRAYAGRAJ, March 25 -- The Allahabad high court on Tuesday extended its interim stay on a former Sambhal chief judicial magistrate (CJM) order directing registration of an FIR against police personnel, including then circle officer (CO) Anuj Kumar Chaudhary. The then CJM had directed registration of FIR in response to an application by a local resident, Yameen, alleging that policemen, including Chaudhary, opened indiscriminate firing in November 2024, resulting in serious gunshot injuries to his son. The order extending the interim stay was passed by justice Samit Gopal. During the hearing on Tuesday, counsel for the complainant filed a counter-affidavit. The court granted time to the petitioner's counsel to file a rejoinder and listed the matter for April 21, while extending the interim order. Earlier, while hearing a petition filed by Anuj Chaudhary challenging the then CJM's January 9, 2026 order directing registration of the FIR, justice Samit Gopal had stayed its operation. A separate petition filed by the state government challenging the same order has also been clubbed with Chaudhary's plea for joint hearing. According to the petition, filed under Section 173(4) of the BNSS before the CJM by Yameen, his son Alam was selling rusks and biscuits from a cart near Jama Masjid in Sambhal on November 24, 2024, when police allegedly opened fire on a crowd. The petition named CO Anuj Chaudhary and Kotwali in-charge Anuj Kumar Tomar among those responsible. While allowing the plea, the CJM had observed that police personnel could not claim the protection of "official duty" for alleged criminal acts. Citing Supreme Court rulings, the court noted that firing at civilians could not be treated as part of official duty and held that the allegations disclosed a prima facie cognisable offence warranting investigation....