The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday asked why Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair posted about hate speech by Hindutva supremacist Yati Narsinghanand on social media platform X, instead of filing a first information report or seeking , Live Law reported.
A bench of Justices Siddhartha Varma and Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra was hearing a petition filed by Zubair seeking protection from arrest in a case filed against him for a post about Narsinghanand. The court orally remarked that the social media posts showed that he was trying to create unrest.
“If this person [Yati Narsinhanand] is acting funny, then instead of going to the police, will you act more funny?” the court orally asked Zubair. “If you don’t like his speech, face, you should file a first information report against him.”
Zubair’s counsel argued that his client was only exercising his freedom of speech by posting about the speech. It was also submitted that there were several other news articles and social media posts about the matter.
The case was registered by the police on October 7 against Zubair for allegedly promoting enmity between religious groups with a post on the social media platform X about Narsinghanand.
Narsinghanand, who is the priest of the Dasna Devi temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad, reportedly made a derogatory comment about Prophet Muhammad during a sermon on September 29, sparking protests by Muslim groups in several cities.
On October 3, Zubair had shared a purported video of the speech on X and demanded legal action against the priest.
Several FIRs have also been filed against Narsinghanand for alleged hate speech targeting Muslims.
Following the registration of the FIR against Zubair, the Alt News co-founder moved the court seeking protection from arrest.
On Wednesday, the court also sought the response of the Uttar Pradesh government about the reason Zubair had been booked for the offence of endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
On November 27, the police had informed the court that these offences were included in the FIR that was filed in October. Several human rights organisation and press bodies had criticised the inclusion of Section 152 in the FIR, calling it a misuse of the provision to curb freedom of expression.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on December 20.
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