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Synopsis

In a significant development, the Allahabad High Court today extended the stay on the arrest of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair until January 16 in the case stemmed from a series of Zubair’s posts on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) in October 2024, which reportedly criticized the inaction of the authorities against Dasna Devi Temple priest Yati Narsinghanand despite multiple FIRs against him.

The FIR against Zubair alleged that these tweets, which were widely shared online, contributed to unrest at the temple on October 4, 2024, where a crowd gathered, and the priest narrowly escaped an attack.

The bench of Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Yogendra Kumar Srivastava today granted Zubair ten days to file a rejoinder to the counter-affidavit submitted by the State Government in the matter.

Zubair, who has been at the center of several legal battles related to his journalistic work, continues to challenge the FIR, arguing that his post merely highlighted police inaction and did not incite violence or subversive activities.

It is, however, state's contention that Zubair's selective tweets heightened religious tensions, leading to the violent incident at the temple.

On December 20, while the court had acknowledged that prima facie allegations against Zubair under Section 196 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) might have held, it had expressed reservations about the charges under Section 152, which dealt with acts promoting secession or subversive activities. The bench had noted that a thorough examination of the tweets and their impact was necessary to determine whether they could genuinely be construed as separatist or inciting rebellion. The court ha, therefore, granted interim protection from arrest to Zubair. It had, however, ordered Zubair to surrender his passport and refrain from leaving the country.

In the FIR in question, 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, subsequently, the Ghaziabad police added new charges, under Section 152 of the BNS and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act in the FIR accusing Zubair of "endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India."

Case Title: Mohammed Zubair Vs. State Of Uttar Pradesh And 3 Others