Arrested for his Hinduphobic tweets and facing further charges of insulting Hindu seers and FCRA irregularities, Alt-News co-founder Mohammed Zubair has approached the Supreme Court for bail and quashing the FIR registered against him at Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh. Zubair’s counsel Colin Gonsalves urged the court to grant an urgent hearing in the case claiming that Zubair faces death threats and there is real concern about his safety.
Zubair was arrested on June 17 by Delhi Police in a case related to an inflammatory Tweet he had posted in 2018 against a Hindu God. On June 1, the Uttar Pradesh police filed another FIR against the Alt-News co-founder for using derogatory language against Hindu seers. On June 13, the Allahabad High Court dismissed a writ petition filed by Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair challenging the FIR filed against him on June 1. Zubair’s lawyer Colin Gonsalves on Thursday approached the apex court seeking bail in the case filed against him by the UP police on June 1 and challenging the Allahabad HC’s order refusing to quash the FIR lodged against him by UP police.
The Supreme Court bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and J K Maheshwari agreed to list Zubair’s plea for hearing on Friday, July 8.
SC agrees to hear Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair’s petition tomorrow. He has challenged Allahabad High Court’s order refusing to quash FIR registered for a tweet in which he allegedly called Hindu seers- as ‘Hate mongers’.
— ANI (@ANI) July 7, 2022
Who is Colin Gonsalves who is representing Alt News co-founder in SC
Interestingly, Colin Gonsalves is the founder of the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) which operates under the aegis of the Socio-Legal Information Centre. It has received funds from George Soros’s NGO in the past. Some of the efforts HRLN has been involved in include the campaign against ISKCON’s Akshaya Patra, a campaign against Indian sedition laws, and it has been providing free legal aid to Rohingya Muslims in India. It has also been engaged in activism for the implementation of the RTE Act that works against Hindu-run institutions.
Furthermore, HRLN is also linked to a plethora of organizations across the country that seeks to undermine India’s territorial integrity. Members of the Right to Food Campaign (RFC), an organization HRLN is linked to, were also involved in the protest against then CJI Ranjan Gogoi that sought to undermine the legitimacy of the Indian Judiciary.
Allahabad HC refuses to quash UP Police FIR against Mohammed Zubair for his derogatory remarks against Hindu seers
On June 13, the Allahabad High Court dismissed a writ petition filed by Mohammed Zubair challenging the FIR filed against him on June 1 for using derogatory language against Mahant Bajrang Muni Udasin, Rashtriya Sanrakshak of Rashtriya Hindu Sher Sena along with Yati Narsinghanand and Swami Anand Swaroop.
While refusing to quash the FIR filed against him, the Allahabad HC Bench of Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ajai Kumar Srivastava opined that the writ petition filed by Mohammed Zubair “lacks merit”. It also said that the prima facie records suggest that there is enough ground for investigation in the case. Hence the court dismissed Zubair’s writ petition.
Khairabad Police of Sitapur district in Uttar Pradesh had filed a First Investigation Report (FIR) against Zubair for using derogatory language against the Hindu seers. The FIR was registered based on the complaint of Bhagwan Sharan, district head of Rashtriya Hindu Sher Sena, under sections 295(A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Meanwhile, seeking bail for Mohammed Zubair, his counsel Colin Gonsalves, said, “A look at the FIR will show that no crime has been made out. There is a death threat to him, I am worried for him.”
