Chhattisgarh HC provides interim protection from arrest to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in FIR against him for harassing a girl child

The Chhattisgarh High Court has today granted interim protection to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair while hearing his plea to quash the FIR filed against him under IPC Section 509B, IT Act section 67 and POCSO Act. A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kumar Agarwal which passed the interim order has issued notice to Chhattisgarh Government and complainant Jagdish Singh on the petition filed by Zubair seeking to quash the FIR.

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Last month, Zubair had also been granted relief by the Delhi HC which had asked the Delhi government and DCP Cyber Cell to file a status report of the case within eight weeks. It had also instructed NCPCR to file a reply on the allegations against Zubair filed by the petitioner by making his data public.

Two FIRs against Mohammed Zubair for doxxing a minor girl

Pertinently two FIRs had been registered against Mohammed Zubair for online harassment of girl child while arguing with a twitter user. In the first FIR filed by Delhi Police, the stringent POCSO Act was not added. However, in the second FIR filed against Zubair in Chhattisgarh along with the relevant sections of the IPC and IT Act, POCSO Act was also invoked.

Along with the AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair, Twitter user going by the handle @de_real_mak and @syedsarwar- Zubair’s supporters who had hurled a barrage of abuses at the child following Zubair’s Tweet, have also been named in the FIR.

Co-founder of AltNews shares the photo of a minor girl to intimidate the grandfather

For those unaware, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had initiated action against the Alt-News founder after it received complaints that Zubair had targetted a minor girl in his Twitter fight with this social media user Jagdish Singh. Instead of replying to the user directly, Zubair had brazenly referred to a minor girl seen in the profile picture of the user Jagdish Singh, presumably his granddaughter.

After Zubair had highlighted the minor girl seen in the photo, Islamists had started to issue rape threats to the girl. Zubair’s tweet came under heavy criticism from social media users who accused him of shamelessly using a child to get back at a critic.