Fact-checker and AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair has moved the Supreme Court seeking to quash the six First Information Reports (FIR) registered against him by the Uttar Pradesh Police in several districts of the state over his tweets, reported LiveLaw.
In his plea, Zubair sought interim bail in all six cases and challenged the constitution of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) by the UP government to probe the cases. He has also sought clubbing of six FIRs with the FIR lodged in Delhi. Earlier on the same day, the Hathras Court remanded him to 14-day judicial custody, fixing the next date of hearing on July 27.
Zubair has been charged under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity), 295A (acts to outrage religious feelings), and 298 (uttering words to wound religious feelings), along with section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material) of the Information Technology Act.
As per reports, Zubair was first arrested by the Delhi police on June 27 over a tweet posted by him in 2018 and was later remanded in the other FIRs registered by the UP Police.
On July 8, Justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari granted him interim bail in the Sitapur case under the condition that he will not will not post any further tweets. They made it clear that the court had not stayed the investigation in the FIR and that interim relief does not apply to any other pending case.
On July 12, 2022, the Supreme Court extended the five days interim bail granted to him in the case where he had called three religious leaders “hate mongerers” (Sitapur case). A bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud granted the state government four weeks to file its counter. The authorities charged the fact-checking website head for deliberate and malicious acts, intent to outrage religious feelings and promoting enmity between different religious groups.
Separate FIRs have been lodged against Zubair in Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, and Hathras districts on charges of allegedly hurting religious feelings, making sarcastic remarks on news anchors, disrespecting Hindu gods, and inflammatory posts, reported Zee News.
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