Allahabad High Court Recuses From Hearing Mohammed Zubair's Plea (image: instagram.com/@zoo_bear_)

Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh: Allahabad High Court Bench on Tuesday recused from hearing a plea moved by Alt News journalist and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair challenging an FIR seeking protection from his arrest. The Bench stated that the matter be placed before another bench.

Ghaziabad Police filed the FIR against Zubair last month and it stems from his tweet criticising alleged hate speech by controversial priest Yati Narsinghanand. The case was filed based on a complaint by Udita Tyagi, general secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust.

Also Read | “Withdraw FIR Filed Against Mohammed Zubair”: Press Club Of India

Zubair has been charged under Sections 196 (promoting enmity on religious grounds), 228 (fabricating false evidence), 299 (outraging religious feelings by insulting religion or religious beliefs), 356(3) (defamation), and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Recently, section 152 of the BNS that deals with acts threaten the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India were also added.

Further, Zubair moved the High Court against the FIR and in his plea, he claimed that he had posted on X to bring out priest’s repeated communal and derogatory remarks about women and senior politicians. The FIR against him is a malevolent attempt to prevent him from exposing Narsinghanand’s criminal activities.

Zubair has maintained that his only aim was to inform the authorities about the priest’s statement for legal action, adding that it cannot be interpreted as promoting disharmony or violence. The journalist has argued that sharing publicly accessible videos of Yati does not constitute defamation, highlighting that the priest was already on bail for a separate hate speech case, with conditions barring him from making statements. He has also alleged the FIR was a malicious attempt to silence him.

Also Read | Outrage Over FIR Against Mohammed Zubair For Tweets On Yati Narsinghanand’s Hate Speech

The Alt News, the fact-checking outlet in their statement issued on November 27 expressed solidarity with Zubair. “…We stand in solidarity with Zubair as he faces this relentless legal intimidation. We urge all supporters of free speech, independent journalism, and fact-checking to continue standing with us in this fight,” the statement read.