New Delhi, 20 July 2022: The Indian Journalists Union welcomes the Supreme Court order releasing AltNews co-founder and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair, on interim bail with regard to all FIRs filed by the Uttar Pradesh police. The Court also clubbed all the FIRs and said the case should be handled by one investigating authority i.e. the Special Cell of Delhi Police.
Observing that existence of power of arrest must be pursued sparingly by the Police, the three-judge bench disbanded the SIT formed by UP government and held there was no justification to keep him in continued custody in connection with six cases filed against him in the State for allegedly hurting religious sentiments with Twitter posts. It stated: 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.”
Zubair was first arrested by the Delhi police on June 27 over a tweet posted by him in 2018 and was later remanded in the other FIRs registered by the UP Police. He was charged under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity), 295A (acts to outrage religious feelings), and 298 (uttering words to wound religious feelings), along with section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material) of the Information Technology Act.
The IJU particularly takes note of Justice Chandrachud’s remarks while refusing to impose a bail condition on him to prevent him from tweeting again: “We can't say that he won’t tweet again. It is like telling a lawyer that you should not argue. How can we tell a journalist that he will not write?... If there is any tweets against law, he will be answerable. How can be pass any anticipatory order that someone will not speak...”
In a statement, the IJU President and former Member, Press Council of India Geetartha Pathak and Secretary General and IFJ Vice President Sabina Inderjit said the FIRs filed against Zubair is yet another case of governments brandishing the stick against independent journalists by misusing the law. The intimidation and harassment of journalists which is on the rise must be put a halt to and the media allowed to carry out its responsibilities of informing the citizens.
