On October 10, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) opposed Alt News’ co-founder Mohammed Zubair’s plea to quash FIR against him in the POCSO case in Delhi High Court. In its submission, the commission pointed out that Zubair has neither deleted the objectionable tweet about the minor girl nor has he informed the concerned authorities about the users indulging in sexual harassment of the minor girl.
The commission informed the court that the matter was serious. Based on the status report filed by the Delhi Police in the matter, NCPCR said that it clearly shows Zubair was trying to evade the investigation and did not cooperate with the police. The commission said, “His Mala fide intention to conceal facts was evident”.
NCPCR further questioned the submissions of the Delhi Police, where it has said that there was no cognisable offence made out against Mohammed Zubair. The commission said it indicated the “casual behaviour” of the Delhi Police in the matter as retweeting of a photo of a minor girl contributed to the disclosure of her identity, due to which she was exposed to sexual harassment online. The matter is scheduled for a hearing on October 11, 2022.
The POCSO case against Mohammed Zubair
On August 7, 2020, Mohammed Zubair indulged in an online spat with Twitter user Jagdish Singh. The AltNews co-founder targeted a minor girl in his Twitter fight with this social media user. 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 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.
When one Twitter user had tagged National Commission for Women to raise the alarm about the predatory behaviour by Zubair, the co-founder of AltNews brazened it out, justifying his blatant doxxing that was clearly endangering the life of a minor.
The Child Rights Commission had taken cognisance of the matter and initiated action against the ‘fact-checking’ website AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair, who tweets from his verified handle @zoo_bear. NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo had also informed Twitter India and the concerned law enforcement officials about the tweet and had asked to take appropriate action.
Subsequently, two FIRs were registered against Mohammed Zubair for online harassment of a 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.
On May 20, 2022, Delhi Police informed the Delhi High Court that the tweet of Zubair did not constitute any cognisable offence.