An Allahabad High Court bench of Justices Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Prashant Kumar recused itself from hearing the plea moved by journalist Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of Alt News, seeking to quash the case registered against him accusing him of promoting enmity among religious groups. The Ghaziabad police booked him under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which criminalises acts endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India, based on a complaint by Udita Tyagi, general secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust.
The bench heard the case for close to 20 minutes and recused itself. The court directed the registry to post the case before another bench.
The case pertains to Zubair posting a thread of fact-checking posts on X about the speeches made by Udit Tyagi.
On October 3, he made three posts. The first one was a video showing Yati Narsinghanand, the priest of Dasna Devi Temple, making inflammatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad at an event in Ghaziabad on September 29. The priest, known for making hate speeches, urged people to burn effigies of the Prophet, sparking protests from Muslim communities across Uttar Pradesh, who demanded strict action.
In the second post in the thread, Zubair wrote, “For people supporting Yati Narsinghanand. Here is a video of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Maharaj’s vile comments about women in politics, especially BJP women leaders in politics (2021).” Along with this tweet, Zubair posted a video of Yati making derogatory comments about women politicians. The thread also included one more video from 2022, where Yati Narsinghanand made demeaning remarks about Prithviraj Chavan.
While Zubair was highlighting Yati’s controversial speeches, Udita Tyagi alleged that the old video clips were shared with the intent of inciting violence by Muslims. Initially he was booked under BNS sections 196 (promoting enmity between groups on religious grounds), 228 (fabricating false evidence), 299 (outraging religious feelings), 356(3) (defamation), and 351(2) (criminal intimidation).
Zubair went to the High Court, challenging the FIR and seeking protection from arrest. The High Court directed the investigating officer to file an affidavit specifying the charges against Zubair. The IO submitted at the court, on November 27, that section 66 (computer related offences) of the Information Technology Act and section 152 (Act endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India) of the BNS had been added to the case.
Zubair contended that his post was made with the intention of informing authorities about Narsinghanand’s statements and advocating for legal action. He argued that it cannot be interpreted as promoting disharmony or violence. He also added that sharing publicly accessible videos of Narsinghanand’s comments does not constitute defamation. Zubair also contended that the FIR was a malicious attempt to silence him for exposing Yati Narsinghanand’s alleged criminal activities.
This is not the first FIR against Zubair. Here’s a look at some cases that illustrate the Alt News cofounder’s role in flagging hate speech online.