The Allahabad High Court on Thursday refused to quash a FIR filed against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair registered for inciting violence by Muslim mob. A Bench of Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Yogendra Kumar Srivastava delivered the verdict while hearing the plea challenging the FIR filed by Zubair.
Refusing to quash the FIR, the bench said that a fair investigation is needed in the case. However, the court added that the interim protection from arrest granted to Zubair in December 2024 will continue to be effective until filing of the chargesheet. Zubair has been directed to cooperate with the investigation.
Defending the FIR, the UP government argued that Zubair had created a narrative through his X posts and attempted to incite the public. The govt counsel further said that his posts contained half-baked information, and they damaged and threatened India’s sovereignty and integrity.
Defending the FIR, the @UPGovt argued that Zubair had created a narrative through his X posts and attempted to incite the public. It was also contended that his posts contained half-baked information, and they damaged and threatened India's sovereignty and integrity.
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) May 22, 2025
The FIR was registered against Zubair in October 2024 over his comments against Yati Narsinghanand, the priest of Dasna Devi Temple in Ghaziabad, after which the temple was mobbed by Islamists. On October 3, Zubair shared a video of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati with a sensational claim that the Dasna Temple chief had targeted Prophet Muhammad. Following that on 5th October 2024, a mob of Islamists tried to attack the temple.
The FIR was filed based on a complaint lodged by BJP leader Dr Udita Tyagi on October 7 at the Web City police station in Ghaziabad after the temple attack on October 5 by a mob of Islamists that had tried to lay siege to the Shiv Shakti Dham after the video shared by Zubair had gone viral on the internet.
Zubair has been booked under Sections 196 (promoting enmity on religious grounds), 228 (fabricating false evidence), 299 (outraging religious feelings by insulting religion or religious beliefs), 356(3) (defamation), and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 by Ghaziabad Police. Later two additional sections, Section 66 of the Information Technology Act and Section 152 (promoting enmity) of the BNS, were added to the case.
