Fact-checker Mohammed Zubair received another brief reprieve from the Supreme Court today after it recognised a “vicious cycle” and ordered the Uttar Pradesh police to hold off on taking any further action in five instances until the next hearing on Wednesday. In a sixth case in UP, he has already received bail from the Supreme Court, but he is currently in custody for a case from Hathras.
The Indian Fact-checker Zubair has asked for bail and the dismissal of all six of the FIRs, which were filed in the districts of Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, and Hathras. Although some FIRs also list additional offences, the main charge against him is that he offended religious sensitivities. “This sort of targeting needs to stop. This is a violation of the legal system, “During the hearing, Vrinda Grover, his attorney, spoke.
What we can say is that there should be no precipitous steps against him until then, the Supreme Court bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna noted as it announced it would hear his appeal on July 20. Justice Chandrachud responded to the state government’s request that other courts continue to issue orders, “But the vicious circle is the issue. He is released on conditional bail in one case but is taken into custody in another.”
The cycle began in Delhi. Co-founder of the fact-checking website Alt News Mr. Zubair was first detained there on June 27 in connection with a case involving a four-year-old tweet that contained an image from a 1983 film. Then he was arrested in case in Sitapur, UP, over calling some Hindu right-wing leaders “hatemongers”.
Since then, the district court in Delhi granted him bail, and the Supreme Court granted him bail in the Sitapur case. Yet he is currently being detained in Hathras for a comparable offence. Today there is a hearing planned in the local court.
For each of the six cases, the UP Police has established a special investigation team (SIT), which Mr. Zubair wants the Supreme Court to dissolve.
We dealt with the Sitapur FIR earlier, Justice DY Chandrachud said in response to his lawyer’s urgent mention of the client’s petition today. There are currently six, some from last year, the attorney noted “In some, he was placed in protective custody. His electronic equipment was taken. He was detained in another case as soon as he received protection in the first “The attorney claimed. “A 14-day police remand is sought today in Hathras.”
Tushar Mehta, acting as the UP government’s solicitor general, responded, “I haven’t even had an opportunity to see the plea yet.” The state had originally rejected this hearing, claiming that it was unaware of the details and that it should take place tomorrow.
In arguing for bail, Fact-checker Mr. Zubair’s attorney stated, “The maximum punishment for the accusations levelled is three years.”
Vrinda Grover informed the court that when Tushar Mehta questioned the urgency “In exchange for information against Mohammed Zubair, they offered cash prizes. A man by the name of Deepak Sharma, who filed the complaint in the Hathras case, posted anti-communist comments on social media at the same time. Will journalists be punished for making complaints like these?”
She emphasised that on July 4, when Mr. Zubair was already in Delhi Police custody, the Hathras FIR was filed.
While offering short-term reprieve, the court gave the state administration till Wednesday to react.
Also Read: Horoscope Today: Check out astrological predictions for your zodiac sign
For all the news update subscribe our YouTube channel ‘DNP India’. You can also follow us on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and TWITTER.
