SC Grants Interim Bail To Mohammed Zubair In All Six FIRs Filed Against Him In UP

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to journalist and AltNews Co-founder Mohammed Zubair in all the six cases filed against him in Uttar Pradesh, reported Live Law reported.

A bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna directed the police to release the Zubair before 6 pm today, subject to furnishing bail bonds.

The bench observed that there is “no justification to keep journalist in continued custody any further and subject him to diverse proceedings when the gravamen of allegations arises from the Tweets which forms part of investigation by Delhi Police, in which case he has already been granted bail.”

Further, the Top Court ordered disbanding of the SIT formed by UP Police for investigation of FIRs against Zubair and clubbed of all the FIRs. It said that the case should be handled by one investigating authority, i.e. Special Cell of Delhi Police.

Six cases have been filed against Zubair in the districts of Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Muzaffarnagar and Ghaziabad and two in Hathras. Earlier, he was granted bail in the seventh case filed by the Delhi Police.

Appearing for Zubair, advocate Vrinda Grover submitted that the UP Police was raking up old FIRs filed against the journalist to keep him in custody.

“Dormant FIR gets suddenly activated. That is why I say there is more than meets the eye. There is a scenario of encircling me [Zubair],” Grover told the court, according to Live Law.

She added: “In this age of digital age, the job of someone who is debunking false information may draw the ire of others. But the law cannot be weaponised against him.”

Meanwhile, UP Additional Advocate General Garima Prashad alleged that Zubair has been promoting malicious and provocative content under the guise of fact-checking, Live Law reported.

“He gets paid for the tweets. More malicious the tweets, the more payment he gets. He has admitted. He has got over Rs 2 crores. He is no journalist,” she told the bench.

Prashad also alleged Zubair has been taking advantage of speeches and videos which have the potential to create a communal divide and has been sharing them repeatedly.

Supreme Court on Monday had described the actions against Zubair as a “vicious cycle”. The court had also directed the police to not take him into custody in cases in which he has not been arrested or his remand has not been sought.