Narsinghanand 'X' Posts Case | 'Can We Protect Zubair Till Chargesheet Stage?' : Asks Allahabad HC, State Opposes; Judgment Reserved

Today, the Allahabad High Court today RESERVED its Judgment on the plea moved by Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in connection with an FIR against him over alleged 'X' Post (formerly Twitter) on Yati Narsinghanand's 'derogatory' speech. The court has extended the stay on the arrest till the delivery of the Judgment.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 has any apprehension about his liberty.With this, the Court reserved its judgment, asking Zubair's counsel (Sr. Advocate Dileep Kumar) to file a short affidavit detailing his apprehension about his liberty getting infringed. Before the bench, the Sr. Advocate contended that since S. 152 BNS (Act endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India) has been invoked against him, his liberty is in peril.In the previous hearings, the government, led by Additional Advocate General Manish Goyal, argued before the HC that Zubair had created a narrative through his X posts and attempted to incite the public. He also questioned the timing of Zubair's 'X' posts, arguing that the fact checker had added fuel to the fire.More about the state's arguments here: 'X' Posts Case | 'Police Took Action Against Narsinghanand; Zubair Built Narrative, Tried To Incite People': UP Govt In Allahabad HC. Read a thread on X about Govt's arguments here and here.On the other hand, the Senior Counsel (Advocate Dilip Kumar) appearing for Zubair has been contending before the Division bench that Zubair's Posts were made as part of his professional obligation as a fact checker and that such posts do not amount to any offence under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita or the Indian Penal Code.One of the contentions of Zubair's counsel is that by posting on X, his client exercised his freedom of speech by referring to the alleged controversial speech of Yati Narsinghanand and highlighting his conduct, and not just him, but many new articles and social media accounts had posted about the same issue.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 Section 152 BNS [Act endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India] was added later on.He also submitted that no content of his posts was beyond his right to speech and expression and that he was merely asking the police authorities as to what action is contemplated against the maker of the alleged 'derogatory' speech pursuant to the lodging of the FIR.More details of Zubair's arguments here: Yati Narsinghanand Case | Posted On 'X' As Part Of My Professional Obligation, No Offence Committed Under BNS/IPC: Mohd Zubair To Allahabad HC.It is Zubair's case that by posting a thread of videos on October 3 featuring Yati Narsinghanand's allegedly inflammatory remarks about Prophet Mohammad and later sharing other tweets with his various controversial speeches, Zubair aimed to highlight Narsinghanand's provocative statements and urge the police authorities to take strict action against him.The complainant, Udita Tyagi, on the other hand, blamed Zubair for sharing Yati's old video clips with the intent of inciting violence by Muslims. She also alleges that due to Zubair's tweets, violent protests were held at Dasna Devi Mandir in Ghaziabad.

Narsinghanand 'X' Posts Case | 'Can We Protect Zubair Till Chargesheet Stage?' : Asks Allahabad HC, State Opposes; Judgment Reserved

Sparsh Upadhyay

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