Now, Lakhimpur Kheri court issues warrant against Mohammed Zubair

BAREILLY: Lakhimpur Kheri police on Saturday issued a warrant against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, charging him under section 153 A (promoting enmity) of the IPC over a tweet he posted a year ago in May. The development came soon after the apex court granted him a five-day interim bail in a case filed in Sitapur, UP, for “hurting religious sentiments”.
The FIR was registered at the Mohammadi police station on the basis of a complaint filed by the “district representative” of a news channel in September, four months after the tweet was posted. Zubair had fact-checked news aired on the channel in the tweet.

A copy of the FIR was never uploaded online and Zubair’s address in the complaint was also inaccurate. No notice was served to him. After the warrant, a local court summoned him to appear before it on July 11. So far, three cases have been filed against Zubair because of his tweets. Twitter was also named in the complaint but no summons was issued to anybody in the firm, police said.
Senior prosecution officer (SPO) SP Yadav told TOI, “A production warrant, also called a ‘B warrant’ under section 267 of the CrPC, has been served at Sitapur jail to Mohammed Zubair. He has been summoned to appear before chief judicial magistrate Chinta Ram on June 11 for his offense under section 153 A of the IPC. Section 153 A is a non-bailable section and the maximum imprisonment in the case is three years. Bail is often granted to the accused depending on the evidence produced by the police. The court was told by cops that no notice was served to Zubair in the case before this.”
Zubair is currently lodged at the Sitapur prison as they are yet to formally receive a copy of the Supreme Court’s interim bail order.
Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, who represented Zubair in the SC, told TOI, “This is a desperate attempt by the government to keep him under custody. The issue is similar to the one decided by the SC. All these FIRs against him don’t disclose any criminal conduct. He is definitely going to succeed in these matters. The government only wants to keep him behind bars illegally.”
With inputs from Pathikrit Chakraborty