The Supreme Court of India on Monday stayed action on five cases against Alt News co-founder and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair in connection with FIRs filed against him by the Uttar Pradesh police.
The court will consider his bail plea on July 20.
Earlier Zubair had sought an urgent appeal in the Supreme Court for quashing the FIRs lodged against him in several districts of UP.
The bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and A S Bopanna admitted the vicious cycle of action against the journalist after the top court granted bail to him in a case registered in Sitapur.
“When he is granted bail in one, another case is listed against him. So the vicious cycle continues,” Justice Chandrachud remarked.
“We direct registry to list this case on July 20, 2022. In the meantime, no precipitate steps shall be taken against petitioner in connection with any of the 5 FIRs be taken without the leave of this court. Issue notice. Requested Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to assist the court in this matter,” the bench directed.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana took note of the submissions of Zubair’s lawyer Vrinda Grover that the petitioner, a fact checker, and journalist, has been facing a slew of FIRs and his plea needed an urgent hearing.
Zubair had sought interim bail for all six cases lodged by the UP police. The six cases are two in Hathras, one in Muzaffarnagar, one in Ghaziabad, and one in Lakhimpur Kheri and Sitapur respectively.
The case in Sitapur was registered for calling out Hindutva leaders – Mahant Bajrang Muni, Yati Narsinghanand and Swami Anand Swaroop – as ‘hatemongers’.
The Supreme court had granted interim bail on July 12 in connection with the Sitapur case. The final disposal will be heard on September 7.
The case in Lakhimpur Kheri was registered in September 2021 when an anchor from Sudarshan TV filed an FIR accusing Zubair of promoting communal tension. The fact-checker had pointed out a news report relating to the Israel-Palestine dispute. The channel had used images of Al-Masjid an-Nabawi from Madina and superimposed it on an old picture from Ghaza, bombing the mosque.
Zubair is currently in judicial custody for this case.
Zubair has also been booked by the Delhi Police in another case based on a 2018 tweet by him containing a screenshot of a 1983 Bollywood movie, Kissi Se Na Kehna.
On July 15, the Delhi Patiala House Court granted bail.
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