AltNews' Mohammad Zubair granted bail in case filed by Delhi Police, but remains in jail

AltNews co-founder Mohammad Zubair was on Friday granted bail by a Delhi court in more case related to an "objectionable" tweet he had posted in 2018 against a Hindu deity. The fact-checker will, however, remain in jail over two more cases filed against him in Uttar Pradesh.

Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala granted the relief to Zubair on a bail bond of Rs 50,000 and one surety of the like amount, and directed him not to leave the country without its prior permission.

On the previous date of hearing, the judge had asked the police to follow the criminal procedure and not go by tweets when he found out that the police had not recorded the statement of the person behind the anonymous Twitter handle that highlighted Zubair’s tweet which eventually led to a Delhi Police investigation.

The prosecution had prayed that Zubair not be granted bail since his tweet was meant to incite people and create ill will. The police claimed a foreign funding angle and said, “Zubair accepted payments and till date has not disclosed the identity of the persons who transferred the money.”

A magisterial court had on July 2 dismissed his bail plea and sent him to 14-day judicial custody (JC) in the case, citing the nature and gravity of the offences against the accused and observing that the matter was at an initial stage of investigation. 

On Thursday, Zubair moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the six FIRs lodged against him in several districts of Uttar Pradesh for allegedly hurting religious sentiments, and also sought interim bail in all the cases. The move by the journalist came even as a court in Hathras in UP remanded Zubair to 14-day judicial custody.

The petition contended that all the six FIRs filed in UP that have been transferred to the SIT for investigation are the subject matter of the FIR which is being probed by the Delhi police special cell.

On July 12, the UP Police constituted a SIT for a "transparent" and expeditious probe into cases lodged against Zubair in various districts of the state.

Separate FIRs have been lodged against Zubair in Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, and Hathras districts on charges of allegedly hurting religious feelings, making sarcastic remarks on news anchors, disrespecting Hindu gods, and inflammatory posts.