SC grants interim bail to Mohammed Zubair in all six cases registered across UP

“Having regard to the fact that the petitioner has been subjected to comprehensive investigation by the Delhi police, we find no reason for his deprivation of personal liberty to sustain,” a bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and AS Bopanna said in an order dictated in open court.

The Supreme Court also transferred the investigation in six FIRs in Uttar Pradesh to the Special Cell of the Delhi Police as all the cases pertain to the same tweets allegedly deemed offensive. Of the six cases – two are registered in Hathras, one each in Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, Lakhimpur Kheri and Sitapur districts. One case in Chandauli, where a chargesheet has already been filed, has also been transferred for trial before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Delhi’s Patiala House Court. The case in Chandauli is filed against Zubair by an employee of Sudarshan News for allegedly spreading misinformation about the news outlet.

“Consequently, the Special Investigation Team constituted by the Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh shall be rendered redundant and shall be disbanded,” the Court said.

On July 18, the Supreme Court had directed the Uttar Pradesh government to not take any “precipitative” action against him till the next hearing.

Senior advocate and Additional Advocate General of Uttar Pradesh Garima Prashad argued before the Court that Zubair “is promoting malicious and provocative content” under the guise of fact checking.

“He gets paid for the tweets. More malicious the tweets, more payment he gets. He has admitted. He has got over Rs 2 crores. He is no journalist,” she said.

Prashad referred to an incident on June 7 in Ghaziabad’s Loni where a video of an assault on a 72-year-old Muslim man was shared by Zubair and tensions flared up after the tweet was published.

“His lakhs of followers retweeted it and entire incident was blown up and communal disharmony takes place in the same district. On June 22, he gave a written apology saying that without checking facts he had gone ahead,” Prashad argued.

“Here is a person who instead of informing the police of illegal speech or hatred, he has been taking advantage of speeches and videos which have the potential of creating a communal divide and he has been sharing them repeatedly,” she added.

However, Justice Chandrachud asked Prashad “where would the balance of justice really lie” when the same tweets were being investigated by the Delhi Police and Zubair was granted regular bail by the Patiala House Court on July 15.

Apart from charges of hate speech, the Special Cell of the Delhi Police is also investigating Zubair under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010.