Mohammed Zubair was arrested on June 25. (File Photo)AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair on Thursday filed a fresh plea in the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the multiple FIRs lodged against him in Uttar Pradesh. Zubair, who sought interim bail in the six cases, also questioned the state government’s decision to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the cases. The plea also prayed for clubbing the six FIRs in case they are not quashed.
The UP government had on July 12 formed a two-member SIT to probe the six cases — two in Hathras district and one each in Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ghaziabad and Muzaffarnagar.
Inspector General Preetinder Singh, currently posted at Department of Prison Administration and Reform, has been made President of the SIT, while Deputy Inspector General of Police Amit Verma is its member.
The FIRs against Zubair are over allegations of hurting Hindu sentiments, making comments against a news channel anchor, making objectionable comments on Hindu deities, and uploading provocative posts. The charges include promoting enmity between two groups and deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting any religion or its religious beliefs.
Subscriber Only Stories
On July 8, the top court, while hearing a plea filed by Zubair seeking quashing of the FIR lodged in Sitapur over a tweet, had granted him interim bail. On July 12, the court extended the interim relief pending further orders. It also asked him not to tweet or tamper with electronic evidence.
Zubair was also arrested by Delhi Police on June 27 for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through his tweets.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
