BREAKING | 'Not A Dreaded Criminal': Allahabad HC Stays Arrest Of Mohd Zubair Till Jan 6 In Yati Narsinghanand 'X' Post Case

In a significant development, the Allahabad High Court today stayed the arrest of Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of Alt-News, till 6th January in connection with an FIR lodged against him over his post on 'X' (formerly Twitter) regarding an alleged inflammatory speech by Yati Narsinghanand.Orally observing that Zubair is not a dreaded criminal, a bench of Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Nalin Kumar Srivastava granted him the relief while restraining him from leaving the Country till the next date of hearing (January 6) and on the condition of cooperating with the police in the investigation.In its 6-page order, released hours after the hearing ended, the Court has tentatively said that from the reading of the FIR, an offence under Section 196 BNS is made out; however, whether Section 152 BNS is made out against him or not is to be seen.Noting that the matter required consideration and that the Aditional Advocate General Manish Goyal is has yet to make submissions with regard to what would be "separatist activity", the Court granted three weeks time to the state government as well as the complainant to file a counter in the case. The matter is now posted for further hearing on January 6.During the hearing, which lasted from 10 a.m. until around 2:20 p.m. earlier today, the Uttar Pradesh government submitted before the High Court that a series of X posts by Zubair on Yati Narsinghanand's alleged speech contained half-baked information and they damaged and threatened India's sovereignty and integrity.Additional Advocate General Manish Goyal submitted before the division bench that Zubair's X post, which intended to provoke violence against Yati Narsinghanand, also promoted a 'feeling separatist activity'.Detailed coverage of the State Government's submission could be read here: Mohd Zubair's 'X' Posts With Half-Baked Info Threatened India's Sovereignty, Promoted 'Feeling Of Separatist Activity': UP Govt To Allahabad HC. An 'X' thread of the hearing can be read hereHere, it may be noted that Zubair is facing an FIR, inter alia, under Section 152 BNS, based on a complaint by Udita Tyagi, general secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust.Zubair had posted a thread of videos on October 3. The first tweet contained a video showing Yati Narsinghanand, the priest of Dasna Devi Temple, making alleged inflammatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad. He also tagged UP police, asking what actions had been taken against Yati.The complainant alleged that the old video clips were shared with the intent of inciting violence by Muslims. Zubair was also blamed for the violent protests against Yati Narsinghanand at Dasna Devi Mandi. Challenging the FIR, Zubair has moved the HC.Before the Court, his counsels contended that Zubair was simply exercising his freedom of speech by referring to the alleged speech of Yati Narsinghanand and highlighting his conduct.The Counsel further stated that not just Zubair but many new articles and social media accounts had posted about the same issue, and Zubair had not said anything different. The senior counsel also argued that the complaint by Dr. Tyagi was merely a publicity stunt.It was also argued that when the X post was made, there was no prohibition order from the police or any other administrative authority to stop tweeting about Yati Narsinghanand's speech.Read more about the previous hearing in the case here: Why Create Social Disharmony? : Allahabad HC Questions Mohd Zubair For Posting On 'X' About Yati Narsinghanand Speech Instead Of Filing FIRCase title - Mohammed Zubair vs. State Of Uttar Pradesh And 3 OthersClick Here To Read/Download Order

BREAKING | 'Not A Dreaded Criminal': Allahabad HC Stays Arrest Of Mohd Zubair Till Jan 6 In Yati Narsinghanand 'X' Post Case

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