In another blow, Alt News co-founder and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair has been sent to 14-day judicial custody by the Mohammadi Sessions Court in Uttar Pradesh on Monday. The court will hear Zubair’s bail plea on July 13.
He was presented before the court through video conferencing from Sitapur Jail.
On July 4, Zubair was produced before a local court in Lakhimpur, Uttar Pradesh.
Background of Zubair’s arrest
Mohammed Zubair was arrested on the night of June 27 by the Delhi police. According to the police, Zubair had posted a clip that is “objectionable and hurts religious sentiments of the Hindus.”
In fact, the truth is the post is a clip from a 1983 Hindi movie – Kissi Se Na Kehna – a romantic comedy directed by the legendary Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The post is an old post dated March 24, 2018.
The complaint was raised by a Twitter handle @balajikijaiin who goes by the name Hanuman Bhakt. the handle, that had just one post now stands deleted.
A senior police officer said the tweet purportedly showed a hotel’s picture, with its board reading ‘Honeymoon hotel’ repainted to ‘Hanuman hotel’. The complainant posted a screenshot, tagged Delhi Police, and wrote: “Linking our God Hanuman ji with honeymoon is a direct insult of Hindus because he is brahmchari. Kindly take action against this guy @delhipolice.”
Zubair was taken into one-day police custody after which he was produced before the Delhi Patiala House Court.
On seeking bail, the court rejected his plea and Zubair was sent to a 14-day Delhi police custody.
There was drama in the court when the verdict was announced before the judge had passed the order, The Delhi police admitted to misinforming the media regarding the bail plea.
Zubair then approached the Supreme Court challenging the court’s refusal to quash an FIR registered against him.
The journalist has been booked under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code(IPC) and section 35 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.
On July 8, relief came as the Supreme Court granted bail for five days provided he stays within the jurisdiction of the court and does not tweet in the near future.
However, soon after Zubair was booked for another tweet that he posted last year by the Lakhimpur Police.
