The Allahabad High Court on Friday granted interim protection from arrest to Alt News journalist and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair booked by the Uttar Pradesh Police, accusing him of endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India, for sharing a post flagging the hate speech of Yati Narsinghanand as “derogatory and hateful.”
The order said no action be taken against Zubair till January 6, 2025, when the Court will hear the matter next.
A Bench of Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Nalin Srivastava stated that Zubair is “not a dreaded criminal, and his immediate arrest is not necessary”.
“At the most, his case is Section 196 of the BNS… It requires more detailed arguments regarding Section 152 BNS, separatist activity, and feeling of separative activity.”
The bench also directed the State to file a detailed response to Zubair’s plea seeking protection from arrest in the case. Zubair told the HC that he was simply exercising his freedom of speech by referring to the hate speech of Yati Narsinghanand and highlighting his conduct.
Zubair was booked in October over his X post featuring a video where Yati Narsinghanand called for the end of Islam. The seer is infamous for making genocidal calls against Muslims.
The FIR was lodged over a complaint by Udita Tyagi, general secretary of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust, over allegations of provoking the Muslim community against Narsinghanand.
Several first information reports (FIRs) were then registered against Narsinghanand in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana for inciting communal hatred and hurting religious sentiments.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
