No justification to keep Mohammed Zubair in continued detention: Supreme Court grants bail in all 6 FIRs

The Supreme Court granted bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair on Wednesday in all six FIRs lodged against him in Uttar Pradesh.

The apex court ordered him to produce bail bonds to the amount of Rs 20,000 which should be presented before the CMM, Patiala House and immediately after the submission of the same the Superintended of Tihar Jail must ensure that the petitioner is released before 6 PM today.

"There is no justification to keep the petitioner in continued detention especially since the gravamen of allegations in UP FIRs is similar to that in Delhi police FIR," the court said.

"We cannot stop him from tweeting. We cannot anticipatorily interdict him from exercising his right to free speech. He will be answerable as per the law. Evidence is all in public domain," it added.

The top court also transferred all the FIRs lodged in UP against Zubair for allegedly 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 UP police Special Investigation Team formed by the state government to investigate the FIRs against Zubair.

The court observed 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 UP overlap with the scope of investigation of the Delhi police.

The judges refused to restrain Zubair from tweeting in the future as sought by the UP government saying can a lawyer be restrained from arguing.

Zubair moved Supreme Court seeking quashing of the six FIRs registered against him by the UP Police.

The Supreme Court granted bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair on Wednesday in all six FIRs lodged against him in Uttar Pradesh. The apex court ordered him to produce bail bonds to the amount of Rs 20,000 which should be presented before the CMM, Patiala House and immediately after the submission of the same the Superintended of Tihar Jail must ensure that the petitioner is released before 6 PM today. "There is no justification to keep the petitioner in continued detention especially since the gravamen of allegations in UP FIRs is similar to that in Delhi police FIR," the court said. ALSO READ: 'Vicious cycle' against scribe Zubair, says SC, orders no 'precipitative steps' in five UP police FIRs "We cannot stop him from tweeting. We cannot anticipatorily interdict him from exercising his right to free speech. He will be answerable as per the law. Evidence is all in public domain," it added. The top court also transferred all the FIRs lodged in UP against Zubair for allegedly 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 UP police Special Investigation Team formed by the state government to investigate the FIRs against Zubair. The court observed 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 UP overlap with the scope of investigation of the Delhi police. The judges refused to restrain Zubair from tweeting in the future as sought by the UP government saying can a lawyer be restrained from arguing. Zubair moved Supreme Court seeking quashing of the six FIRs registered against him by the UP Police.