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Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair moves to Supreme Court seeking quashing of all FIRs registered by UP Police against him

The SIT has been headed by IG Preetinder Singh and also DIG Amit Kumar Verma has been made a part of the team.

On Thursday, Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of AltNews, filed a petition with the Supreme Court requesting that six FIRs filed against him in Uttar Pradesh be dismissed. The plea filed by him challenges the FIRs recorded in Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, and two in Hathras. The petition also challenges the formation of the SIT by the Uttar Pradesh Police.

According to the reports, the Uttar Pradesh government has formed a two-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate six cases that have been lodged against already arrested Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair. The SIT has been headed by IG Preetinder Singh and also DIG Amit Kumar Verma has been made a part of the team.

The SIT is to investigate six cases that have been lodged in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ghaziabad, Hathras, and Muzaffarnagar. Of the total six cases, two cases are lodged in Hathras district while one case each is registered in Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ghaziabad, and Muzaffarnagar. Zubair is held in Tihar jail after being detained on June 27 by Delhi police in connection with an FIR filed against him for hurting religious sentiments through derogatory tweets targeted against Hindus.

To note, Mohammed Zubair was given temporary bail in the Sitapur case on July 8, 2022, by a vacation bench comprising Justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari. The bench had made it plain that the relief was subject to the requirement that he refrain from posting any more tweets, that the investigation in the FIR had not been delayed, and that the temporary respite did not extend to any other cases against him that were ongoing. Further, the interim bail in the Sitapur case was renewed on July 13 by a court chaired by Justice DY Chandrachud, and his request to have the FIR quashed is set for hearing in September.

However, a decision on his bail application in a case involving a 2018 tweet that offended religious sensitivities has been delayed till Friday in Delhi. Advocate Vrinda Grover, who represents Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, told a Delhi court on Thursday that the investigation into the case does not require him to be in custody because all investigation is electronic, and that any further restriction on his liberty would violate a Supreme Court ruling. Meanwhile, Special Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava argued that Rs 56 lakh was credited to Zubair’s account through Razorpay.

The court was considering Zubair’s bail application in a case involving a 2018 tweet that allegedly offended religious feelings. “We gave notice to Razorpay. They provided UPI. Through NPCI, we can get particulars of the bank. There is certain forgery also in this case that may be done, we are looking at that. Banks notice have already been issued,” Srivastava added. When the court asked Srivastava why Zubair’s custody is necessary, he said, “The persons who are Gumnaam (anonymous) will remain Gumnaam if he comes out. We have been trying our best to contact them.” The court then reserved the order in the case for Friday, at 2 pm.

Zubair had reportedly received Rs 56 lakhs in his bank accounts from foreign sources, and in violation of FCRA. Today in UP, a 7th FIR was also lodged against him in UP’s Chandauli.

Ayodhra Ram Mandir special coverage by OpIndia

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OpIndia Staffhttps://www.opindia.com
Staff reporter at OpIndia

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