Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, July 18: the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that no precipitative action be taken against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in five first information reports (FIRs) registered against him by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
Relevantly, the panel of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna noted that the journalist had been subjected to a vicious circle of persecution after the Supreme Court had granted him bail in a case brought in Sitapur.
“We direct registry to list this case on July 20, 2022. In the meantime, no precipitate steps shall be taken against the 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.
In a Sitapur FIR, the bench had already granted him interim release. Zubair turned to the highest court after the UP Police took action against him in 5 additional FIRs.
“When he is granted bail in one another case is listed against him. So the vicious cycle continues,” Justice Chandrachud remarked.
In his plea, Zubair also included a different request that the six FIRs be combined with the FIR from Delhi, the location of Zubair’s initial arrest. In all 6 FIRs, Zubair has also asked for provisional bail.
Cases have been filed in six different cities—Hathras, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, Lakhimpur Kheri, and Sitapur against Zubair. Cases involving the fact-tweets checker’s have been filed in Sitapur and Lakhimpur Kheri.
After he posted a tweet labelling Mahant Bajrang Muni, Yati Narsinghanand, and Swami Anand Swaroop as ‘hate mongers,’ a lawsuit was filed against Zubair in Sitapur for hurting religious sensibilities. In the Sitapur FIR, the Supreme Court had given him temporary bail.
