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The FIR has been filed by Udita Tyagi, general secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust, alleging that Zubair's post on social media incited violence among Muslims against the controversial priest
A dramatic turn of events unfolded in the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday as the bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Prashant Kumar recused from hearing Mohammed Zubair's writ petition.
The Alt News founder has moved the court seeking quashing of an FIR filed on October 8 following a complaint by Udita Tyagi, general secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust. Tyagi accused Zubair of sharing a video clip of an old program featuring Narsinghanand on October 3, alleging that the post incited violence among Muslims against the controversial priest.
The original FIR included charges under various sections of the BNS, including 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 228 (fabricating false evidence), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 356(3) (defamation), and 351(2) (punishment for criminal intimidation). However, last week, the high court was told by the Ghaziabad Police that it has added new charges under Section 152 of the BNS and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act against Zubair, accusing him of "endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India".
Notably, the initial charges against Mohammed Zubair carried prison terms of less than seven years, eliminating the need for immediate arrest. However, the subsequent Section 152 of the BNS is a non-bailable offence.
When the division bench of Justices Tripathi and Kumar took up the matter, it ordered, "Let the matter be placed before another Bench, as fresh, after seeking nomination from Hon'ble Chief Justice".
In his plea before the High Court, Zubair has asserted that his social media post merely alerted authorities about Narsinghanand's actions and sought legal action, which did not amount to promoting communal disharmony. Yati Narsinghanand is the priest of Ghaziabad's Dasna Devi Temple.
Zubair has challenged the defamation charge, arguing that sharing Narsinghanand's publicly available videos could not constitute defamation. His petition also points out that Narsinghanand made derogatory remarks against the Prophet while on bail in another hate speech case, despite conditions prohibiting such statements.
Case Title: Mohammed Zubair vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and 3 Others
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