A Bench of Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Nalin Srivastava also directed the State to file a detailed response to Zubair’s plea seeking protection from arrest in the case.
NEW DELHI — The Allahabad High Court on Friday granted interim protection from arrest to Alt News journalist and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair booked by the Uttar Pradesh Police for allegedly endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).Â
A Bench of Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Nalin Srivastava also directed the State to file a detailed response to Zubair’s plea seeking protection from arrest in the case.
The Bench said that no action be taken against Zubair till January 6, 2025 when the Court will hear the matter next, Bar and Bench reported.
Zubair was booked for a tweet he put on X saying that a speech delivered by Ghaziabad Dasna Devi Temple priest Yati Narsinghanand was “derogatory and hateful”.
The FIR was lodged consequent to a complaint filed by supporters of Yati Narsinghanand, the priest of Ghaziabad’s Dasna Devi Temple over a tweet Zubair had posted on X.
On September 29, Narsinghanand, who has been charged with hate speech on previous occasions, delivered a public speech in which he allegedly made remarks against Prophet Muhammad. Zubair posted a tweet on X calling the speech “derogatory and hateful”.
Several first information reports (FIRs) were then registered against Narsinghanand in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana for inciting communal hatred and hurting religious sentiments. His aides claimed that the was taken away by the cops.
Subsequently, there were protests at the Dasna Devi Temple.
The FIR against Zubair stemmed from a complaint filed by Udita Tyagi, General Secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Foundation.
Tyagi alleged that on October 3, Zubair shared an old video clip of Narsinghanand with the intent to incite violence against him.
A complaint was lodged by Tyagi blaming Zubair, Arshad Madani and Asaduddin Owaisi for violent protests at Dasna Devi Mandi.
The Ghaziabad Police then charged Zubair under Sections 196 (promoting enmity on religious grounds), 228 (fabricating false evidence), 299 (outraging religious feelings by insulting religion or religious beliefs), 356(3) (defamation), and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of the BNS.
Subsequently, the offence under Section 152 of BNS was also added.
Zubair then moved the High Court seeking quashing of the FIR and also for protection from arrest.
In his plea, Zubair stated that he had put the post on X to highlight Yati Narsinghanand’s repeated communal remarks and derogatory comments about women and senior politicians.
The FIR against him is a malicious attempt to prevent him from exposing Narsinghanand’s criminal activities, Zubair claimed.
Earlier, a Bench of Justices Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Prashant Kumar had recused from the case.
