UP govt wanted Zubair to be stopped from tweeting, SC denies request

The Supreme Court on Wednesday, July 20, granted bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair in all FIRs lodged in Uttar Pradesh against him concerning his tweets, saying there was no justification in keeping him in continuous custody when a court granted him bail in an FIR registered by the Delhi police. As the bail plea hearing was going on in court, the Uttar Pradesh government told the court that it should impose a bail condition that Zubair cannot tweet. The top court, however, refused to restrain Zubair from tweeting.

"It is like telling a lawyer that you should not argue. How can we tell a journalist that he will not write?" Justice Chandrachud asked. When Additional Advocate General Garima Prashad objected, saying Zubair is not a journalist, Justice Chandrachud said, "If there are any tweets against law, he will be answerable. How can we pass any anticipatory order that someone will not speak?"

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant, and AS Bopanna said that Zubair will be allowed to leave on bail in all the FIRs lodged in Uttar Pradesh after depositing a bail bond of Rs 20,000 for each case with Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Patiala House Court, New Delhi. The apex court also ordered that he will be released on bail if any future FIR is lodged against him for the same cause of action. The top court also transferred all the FIRs lodged in Uttar Pradesh against Zubair, under charges of outraging religious sentiments, to be investigated by the Delhi Police and clubbed them along with the existing FIR lodged by a special cell of Delhi Police.

The bench also disbanded a Uttar Pradesh police Special Investigation Team formed by the state government to investigate the FIRs against Zubair. It said that Zubair can move Delhi High Court for quashing of the FIR registered by Delhi police, along with the FIRs lodged by Uttar Pradesh police, which now stand clubbed with it. The bench said that the existence of the power of arrest must be distinguished from the power of arrest, which should be pursued sparingly.

The apex court added there was no justification in keeping Zubair in continuous custody when the Delhi court granted him bail in an FIR registered by the Special Cell of Delhi police, which is already investigating the whole gamut of tweets and funding of his organisation. The bench said that it would be fair and appropriate if all the FIRs are investigated by one authority rather than piecemeal investigation by various authorities as the FIRs lodged in Uttar Pradesh overlap with the scope of investigation of the Delhi police.

A total of seven FIRs have been registered in Uttar Pradesh against Zubair — two in Hathras and one each in Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, and at Chandauli police station.