Dasna Incident Result Of Narsinghanand's Speech; Can't Argue Saif Was Attacked Due To Kumar Vishwas' 'Taimur Remark': Zubair To Allahabad HC

Today, the Allahabad High Court RESERVED its Judgment on the plea moved by Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair challenging an FIR against him over alleged 'X' Post (formerly Twitter) on Yati Narsinghanand's 'derogatory' speech. The court has also extended the stay on the arrest till the delivery of the Judgment. Before the Court, Senior Counsel Dileep Gupta, representing Zubair, argued that the protests that erupted on the night of October 4 over Narsinghanand's alleged remarks against Prophet Mohammed were a direct result of Narsinghanand's speech, not Zubair's alleged posts on 'X'. Referring to the 'Taimur remark' made by Hindi poet Dr. Kumar Vishwas, who, without directly naming actor Saif Ali Khan or Kareena Kapoor Khan, had recently questioned the choice of naming their son Taimur after an 'invader', Senior Counsel Gupta argued that holding Kumar Vishwas liable for the recent attack on Actor Saif Ali Khan by an intruder at his Mumbai residence, would be a far-fetched argument. Similarly, he contended that Zubair should not be held responsible for the protests in Dasna simply because he posted on 'X' about Narsinghanand's alleged remarks. “Yeh log jo ikatthe hue (outside Dasna Temple in Ghaziabad) wo Narsinghanand ki Paigambar Mohammad ko lekar kathit tippani ke karan hue the…Bahut bade ek kavi hain Kumar Vishwas unhone abhi kya kaha tha? Balki woh yeh baat har katha mein kahte hain. Maine bhi samne se suna hai unhone kya kaha recently Actor Saif Ali Khan ke baare mein aur uske baad actor ke sath kya hua,” Gupta argued. [Translation : They (the protesters outside Dasna Temple in Ghaziabad) gathered because of Narsinghanand's alleged comments about Prophet Mohammad…There is a renowned poet, Kumar Vishwas, who recently said something—he makes that remark in all his Kathas. I've heard what he said recently about actor Saif Ali Khan, and what happened to the actor afterwards] He further added: Kumar Vishwas ne kaha ki Saif Ali Khan ne apne bete ka naam Taimur rakha, unke is kathan ke baad Actor ke upar uske ghar par hamla hua, ab mai keh dun ki yeh hamla Kumar Vishwas ki wajah se hua. Yeh to bada far-fetched argument hoga na.” [Translation: Kumar Vishwas said that Saif Ali Khan named his son Taimur, and after his remark, an attack took place at the actor at his home. Now, should I say that this happened because of Kumar Vishwas' remark? That would be a very far-fetched argument.] Gupta also contended that the case isn't just about the lodging of an FIR against his client, but the matter also involved the question of freedom of speech guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution of India.Notably, after the conclusion of the arguments for both sides, a bench consisting of Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Yogendra Kumar Srivastava orally inquired from the State whether protection should be granted to Zubair until the filing of the chargesheet in the matter. This suggestion was opposed by the Additional Advocate General Manish Goyal.AAG Manish Goyal submitted that the Supreme Court's judgment in the Neeharika Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. Vs. State of Maharashtra and others LL 2021 SC 211 would come in the way of granting such a protection to Zubair. He also submitted that Alt-News's co-founder can apply for anticipatory bail if he is apprehensive about his liberty.His further submission was that it was not open for the Court to quash the FIR under some sections only. He argued that a case of the quashing of the entire FIR was also not made out in view of the Supreme Court's ruling in the cases of Dineshbhai Chandubhai Patel vs The State Of Gujarat and Somjeet Mallick vs. State of Jharkhand & Ors 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 797.AAG Goyal categorically argued that the Dasna Incident directly resulted from Zubair's 'X' posts, as he has some influence over his 15 lakh followers. AAG Goyal also submitted that Zubair's conduct and intent were writ large:"The FIR discloses cognizable offences against him. The conduct of the petitioner and other material put on record by us disclose his mens rea...His conduct and intent is writ large and material put forth makes out a prima facie case against him. He also distorted the map of a state of India (referring to Maharashtra) in one of his X posts", AAG Goyal submittedDuring the course of the hearing, the bench asked Zubair's counsel (Sr. Advocate Gupta) to file a short affidavit detailing his apprehension about his liberty getting infringed. Before the bench, the Sr. Advocate had contended that since S. 152 BNS (Act endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India) had been invoked against Zubair, his liberty was in peril.For the uninitiated, Zubair is facing an FIR lodged by the Ghaziabad Police in October 2024, accusing him of promoting enmity among religious groups following a complaint by an associate of controversial priest Yati Narsinghanand. Zubair has moved the HC, challenging the FIR, under which the offence of...

Dasna Incident Result Of Narsinghanand's Speech; Can't Argue Saif Was Attacked Due To Kumar Vishwas' 'Taimur Remark': Zubair To Allahabad HC

Sparsh Upadhyay

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