The Delhi Police has informed the Delhi High Court that no case has been filed against the person who called Alt News co-founder and ‘fact-checker’ Mohammed Zubair a “Jihadi” in a tweet in 2020. The post in question was made by Jagdish Singh, who filed a complaint against Zubair, accusing him of cybersexual harassment of his granddaughter.
The Delhi Police has stated that nothing incriminating has emerged for further action against Singh, who commented “Once a jihad is always jihadi” on Zubair’s tweet on the 18th of April 2020.
The court had asked Delhi Police in May last year to inform about action taken against Jagdish Singh, for his “evidently offensive tweet”, which may “amount to hate speech”.
The status report of Zubair’s plea against the FIR under the POCSO Act has been filed, and he has already been cleared of all charges.
The Police said: “Thus, the captioned tweet by the complainant Mr. Jagdish Singh made on 18.04.2020 does not cause fear or alarm to the public or any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against any state or against public tranquillity.”
The status report further stated: “That in view of above, no case has been registered in relation to the captioned tweet against the complainant i.e. Mr Jagdish Singh.” The Delhi Police responded after being pulled up by the court last year for no action taken against that person. The complaint relates to a tweet posted by Zubair, showing the profile photo of a user and asking if it was appropriate for him to use abusive language in replies while using a profile picture of his granddaughter.
“Hello XXX. Does your cute granddaughter know about your part time job of abusing people on social media? I suggest you to change your profile pic,” Zubair had posted.
The FIR filed in Delhi accused Zubair of violating the POCSO Act, Section 509B of the IPC, and Sections 67 and 67A of the Information Technology Act. The Delhi Police had previously told the court that there was no criminality in Zubair’s tweet. In May of last year, the police stated that no cognizable offence was brought against Zubair.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had previously argued before the high court that the city police’s declaration that no cognisable offence had been established against Zubair was “incorrect” and that the agency’s position reflected the authorities’ casual attitude.