The March 2018 tweet, for which Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair had been arrested in June this year, was targeted against a particular community and could have incited violence, the Delhi Police have told the High Court, Bar and Bench reported on Friday.
In an affidavit, the police said that the journalist had tweeted the post with deliberate intentions and it could have been detrimental to maintaining peace.
Zubair was arrested on June 27 by a cyber unit of the Delhi Police on charges of hurting religious sentiments. His tweet contained a still from a 1983 Hindi movie of a signboard repainted from “Honeymoon Hotel” to “Hanuman Hotel”.
An anonymous Twitter user with the handle @balajikijaiin had alleged that the tweet hurt sentiments of the Hindu community. The journalist was released on bail in July, after twenty-three days in custody.
In July, Zubair had moved the Delhi High Court, seeking that his electronic devices that were seized by the police, but were not related to the allegations mentioned in the first information report be returned to him, reported Live Law.
In an affidavit filed in response, the police have said that the devices are being analysed by the Forensic Science Laboratory. They said that officials were yet to recover data from the devices in connection with the case and other “similar natured tweets” if such information is found.
The police said that the journalist could move a lower court to retrieve the devices on superdari when the analysis is complete. Superdari means handing over an item related to an offence to the owner on the condition that the property will be produced whenever the court wanted.
The police claimed said that while Zubair had admitted that he posted the tweet, he misled the investigation by giving different answers to same questions.
“Mohammed Zubair had remained non cooperative during the investigation,” they claimed. “He also disclosed that he has asked his family to dispose of his equipment including his mobile phone and laptop in case he is arrested/apprehended by police.”
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Zubair was granted bail in the 2018 case on July 15 but he could not be released as the Uttar Pradesh Police had by then filed another FIR against him and the journalist was sent to their custody. Subsequently, the Uttar Pradesh Police opened six investigations against Zubair, including new FIRs and old cases that were revived.
One case each was filed against Zubair in the districts of Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Muzaffarnagar and Ghaziabad and two in Hathras. They were related to satirical comments about television news anchors, allegedly hurting religious sentiments of the Hindu community and posting alleged inflammatory content about deities.
He was finally granted bail in all cases by the Supreme Court and walked free on July 20.
A Supreme Court bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna had observed that the the power of arrest must be pursued sparingly. The judges noted there was “no justification” to keep Zubair in further custody and subject him to an endless round of proceedings in various courts.
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