A sessions court of Mohammadi in Lakhimpur of Uttar Pradesh rejected the bail plea of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in the Sudarshan News fact-check case on Saturday 16th July 2022. On July 20, a hearing on police custody remand will take place.
Uttar Pradesh | Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair’s bail plea rejected by Mohammadi’s sessions court in Lakhimpur Kheri. Hearing on police custody remand will be held on July 20, confirmed Mohd Zubair’s advocate Harjit Singh
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) July 16, 2022
The Lakhimpur Kheri court summoned Zubair in a case against him that was brought in September 2021 as a result of a lawsuit filed by a journalist working with Sudarshan News over a fact-checking tweet. Section 153A was imposed against Mohammed Zubair in the case. Additional charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Sections 153B, 501(1)(B), and 505(2), are also pressed against Mohammed Zubair.
On Monday 11th July 2022, Zubair was sent to police custody for 14 days. Today he was presented before the court through video conferencing from the Sitapur jail where he is currently lodged.
Mohd Zubair’s advocate, Harjit Singh, earlier informed that the hearing (for the bail) was scheduled for 13th July 2022 but it was postponed as a result of the plaintiff’s objection to the bail application submitted in English. A day ago, Delhi’s Patiala House Court granted him bail in a case related to an allegedly objectionable tweet hurting the sentiments of Hindus.
On Thursday, Mohammed Zubair 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.
