The Allahabad High Court declined to quash a First Information Report (FIR) filed against Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of the fact-checking outlet Alt News, concerning his social media posts on platform X about Hindutva priest Yati Narsinghanand’s alleged derogatory and hate speeches against Muslims, on Thursday.
The bench, comprising Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Dr. Yogendra Kumar Srivastava, however, extended interim protection from arrest to Zubair pending the ongoing investigation, while restraining him from leaving the country during this period.
The FIR, lodged by the Ghaziabad Police in October 2024, was initiated following a complaint by Udita Tyagi, an associate of Narsinghanand.
It accuses Zubair of promoting enmity among religious groups through his X posts, with charges later escalated to include Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which pertains to acts endangering India’s sovereignty, unity, and integrity.
The complainant alleged that Zubair’s posts, particularly a thread on October 3, 2024, featuring video clips of Narsinghanand’s provocative statements, were shared with the intent to incite violence by Muslims. Tyagi further claimed that these posts triggered violent protests at the Dasna Devi Mandir in Ghaziabad.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
