AltNews' Mohammed Zubair approaches SC asking quashing of 6 FIRs

AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair has approached the Supreme Court seeking the cancellation of six cases filed against him by the UP Police. His petition challenges the FIRs registered at Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Hathras, Ghaziabad and Muzaffarnagar. Three of the six FIRs are over Zubair’s tweet on calling some Hindu leaders ‘hate mongers’.

Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Thursday (July 14) reserved an order on the bail plea filed by the fact-checker in a case connected to an “objectionable tweet” he had posted in March 2018 for Friday (July 15).

In the Delhi court hearing on Thursday, the Special Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastav argued that a sum of ₹56 lakh was credited to Zubair’s account through Razorpay.

Zubair’s advocate Vrinda Grover had argued on his behalf that the case doesn’t’ require his presence in custody as all “investigation is electronic”. The advocate also argued that the controversial tweet was made by an anonymous user whose identity is still unclear.

The court is expected to announce the order in the case around 2 pm on Friday.

Also Read: SC extends Muhammed Zubair’s bail till further orders, next hearing on Sept 7

On Tuesday, the apex court extended his interim bail in a case registered at Sitapur of Uttar Pradesh where he was accused of hurting religious sentiments. As per reports, no relief has been granted in other registered cases and the accused is still in jail.

A magisterial court in Uttar Pradesh had on July 2 dismissed his bail plea and Zubair was sent to 14-day judicial custody in a case connected to the “controversial tweet” of March 2018.

Judicial custody

The AltNews founder was sent to another 14-days of judicial custody by a local court of UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri for promoting enmity between religious groups.

Even though the Supreme Court on Friday (July 8) granted him five days’ interim relief in a case filed against him for calling Hindu seers “hate mongers” in a tweet, on the same day the Lakhimpur Kheri police had served him a warrant to appear in court in the new case.

The case against Zubair was first filed by Delhi Police Sub-Inspector Arun Kumar who while monitoring social media had come across a tweet handle “Hanuman Bhakt”, raising objections to Zubair’s tweet which had the potential to cause religious disharmony.