Allahabad HC refuses to quash FIR against fact-checker Mohammed Zubair

The Allahabad High Court, on Thursday, May 22, refused to quash a case filed against Alt News co-founder and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair regarding his X posts against Hindutva firebrand and head priest of the Dasna Devi, Yati Narsinghanand’s, alleged Islamophobic and hate speeches against Indian Muslims.

The bench, comprising Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Dr Yogendra Kumar Srivastava, stressed the need for a fair investigation.

However, in some relief to Zubair, the high court extended interim protection but disallowed him to travel abroad while the investigation is ongoing.

The case pertains to October 2024, when Udita Tyagi, an associate of Yati Narsinghanand, filed a complaint with the Ghaziabad police against Mohammed Zubair, claiming he shared several video clips of the Hindutva priest via X posts, with the intent to incite violence by Muslims and endanger the Hindu community.

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Tyagi alleged the posts triggered violent protests at the Dasna Devi Mandir in Ghaziabad. An FIR under section 152 (threatening the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India) under the BNS was lodged.

The Uttar Pradesh government, ruled by the right-aligned Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), defended the FIR and stated that Zubair’s social media posts are often “half-baked” and “selectively edited.”

In his defence, Mohammed Zubair argued that his actions were protected under freedom of speech by the Constitution of India. He also maintained that he was merely doing his duty as a fact-checker, which was to highlight communal and check the spread of fake news. He also noted that numerous news outlets and social media accounts had similarly reported on Narsinghanand’s conduct.

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