On July 14, Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala of Patiala House Court said that the orders on the bail plea by Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair would be announced on Friday. Zubair had approached the court to seek bail in the FIR registered by Delhi Police via his advocate Vrinda Grover. The FIR was based on a tweet that allegedly hurt the Hindu community’s sentiments. On July 2, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria had denied his bail.
Court adjourns for the day. To be heard tomorrow at 2 pm.
— LawBeat (@LawBeatInd) July 14, 2022
Delhi Police arrested Zubair on June 17, and since then, he has been in judicial custody for one or the other case. During the hearing, Advocate Grover suggested there was nothing wrong with Zubair’s tweet as it was a scene from a Hindu film titled ‘Kisi Se Na Kehna’ released in 1983. Countering her argument, Special Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava said the tweet made by Zubair in 2018 still exists, and the repercussions and effects of the tweet have continued. He suggested that it was not only about the image but also the text he had used pointing towards the then-newly elected NDA government.
Zubair was initially arrested under Sections 153A and 295 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). As the case progressed, more Sections, including 295A, 201, 120B of the IPC and Section 35 of the FCRA Act, were invoked against him.
Speaking about the case filed against Zubair for hurting religious sentiments, Grover said an anonymous account dug out an old tweet by Zubair, and Delhi Police acted promptly. She said, “However, no investigation has been made as to who this person is, is this even an Indian handle.”
Grover: somebody digs out a four year old tweet and outs it out, what is the mischief? I am grateful that this Court posed some questions, who is this person? No one has been questioned. Is this even an Indian handle? I don’t know.
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) July 14, 2022
Countering her argument, SSP Shrivastava said, “He is not as simple as my learned friend has projected, that it was a joke. It was a planned way. And you’ve added these things on post just to attract such type of people…Here at this stage, the gravity has been checked by SC also, and for this reason, bail has not been granted. Interim relief has been granted that is too conditional. In our case, FCRA is also there where the economy is also involved…This is not the only tweet. Some other tweets are also there that reveal that his intentions were not…”
Prosecution: As per telephone number #MohammadZubair has been staying in Saudi Arabia for many years. That tweet was PLANNED, and was not a ‘mere joke’ as mentioned by the the counsel of Zubair
— LawBeat (@LawBeatInd) July 14, 2022
SSP said, “As per telephone number #MohammadZubair has been staying in Saudi Arabia for many years. That tweet was PLANNED and was not a ‘mere joke’ as mentioned by the counsel of Zubair.”
SPP alleged FCRA violation
During the hearing, Grover denied the allegations of Foreign Donations. She added that Zubair did not get any foreign contribution. She said, “I have received no foreign contribution either in my personal or Pravda Media foundation account. Just below that is a donate now button. In bold, it’s written we don’t accept foreign…as we’re not registered under FCRA. Therefore, I don’t take foreign remittance.”
Notably, it was alleged that Zubair had received foreign donations from countries like Pakistan, Syria, and others that would require further investigation. SSP Srivastava alleged he had “received 20 thousand and many more amounts received by the accused from many places.”
He added, “Cleverly, they have done all this. Someone is paying, and you’re accepting it. It’s like saying I’ll only take murder cases, but I am taking dacoity cases also…If something is in your special knowledge, the burden shifts on you. You have not responded to the date which the persons are. It’s on you to disclose. During PC, he was asked, he said Razorpay se jo paise aate the, wahi the. It’s your guilty mind and mens rea that you have taken the picture and put it on social media. Why have you chosen Hanuman ji? If you’re saying you’re a journalist, then you should be more careful.”
He further said a notice was sent to Razorpay for information about the donors. A few days back, fintech Razorpay issued a statement after it was accused of sharing the personal data of the donors with investing agencies. The company had said only the required information was given and not the bundled information of all the donors.
Prosecution: Notice has been served to Razorpay and UPI was provided by them. The investigation is under process and it is taking place at a very good pace.
— LawBeat (@LawBeatInd) July 14, 2022
Grover further claimed that people often visit abroad for work, and thus IP addresses of the donors cannot be seen as evidence. She argued that an Indian citizen might be on a foreign land using an Indian bank account to donate the money that does not mean he had received money from the nations mentioned by the Police.
Over 56 lakh received in violation of FCRA
SSP alleged that Zubair had received over Rs 56 lakh in violation of FCRA. He further added there might be more forgeries in the case. The investigating team has sent notices to banks.
Prosecution: We have given notices to banks and are investigating.. There might be chances that his own persons have sent money to his account, to get away with the lliability of Income tax Act. #MohammadZubair
— LawBeat (@LawBeatInd) July 14, 2022
SSP said, “There might be a chance his own people have sent money to his account to get away with the liability of Income-tax Act.”
