Editor's Pick: Mohammed Zubair gets bail, but not free yet

A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in a case related to a tweet posted by him in 2018. “The voice of dissent is necessary for healthy democracy. Therefore, for mere criticism of any political party it is not justified to invoke Sections 153A (promoting enmity) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts to outrage religious feelings) of the IPC,” the court said. Mr. Zubair, however, will not walk free till he gets bail in all six cases filed against him in Uttar Pradesh. He was arrested by the Delhi Police on June 27 in this FIR, filed based on a social media complaint claiming the tweet hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. The tweet in question contained an image from a 1983 CBFC-approved film Kissi Se Na Kehna where a fictional hotel’s name had been changed from ‘Honeymoon hotel’ to ‘Hanuman hotel’. With this, Mr. Zubair had posted the text: “Before 2014: Honeymoon Hotel/After 2014: Hanuman Hotel”. Granting Mr. Zubair bail in this case, Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala held, “The applicant/accused is also stated to have used the words “Before 2014 and After 2014” to point out towards a political party. In Indian democracies the political parties are open for their criticism… The voice of dissent is necessary for healthy democracy.” Of the six U.P. cases, Mr. Zubair has been arrested in three (Hathras, Lakhimpur Kheri, and Sitapur). In the Sitapur case, he has been granted interim bail by the Supreme Court and in the Hathras and Lakhimpur Kheri cases, he is currently in judicial custody. Mr. Zubair’s lawyers have already moved the top court seeking quashing of the U.P. FIRs or clubbing them together and moving them to Delhi. As for the case over the 2018 tweet, the judge held that there was no offence in naming a hotel or institution after a Hindu god if done without malice, noting that “Hindu religion is one of the oldest religions and most tolerant”. It added, “It is also not out of place to mention that the alleged tweet of the accused was made in the year 2018 but till the date of registration of the present FIR in 2022, no other complaint was received that the tweet of the accused is offensive to the Hindu community or showing disrespect to Lord Hanuman.” The court went on to note that though the Delhi Police had registered the FIR based on the hurt sentiment of a Twitter user, “till today during the investigation the police has failed to establish the identity of said Twitter user who felt offended by the tweet of the accused” and record their statement under Section 161 of the CrPC. On the now-added charge under Section 35 of the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act, the court agreed with Mr. Zubair’s lawyers that he and his company Alt News had exercised all necessary due diligence as called for under Section 39 of the FCRA to prevent the receipt of any foreign contribution. In an editorial, The Hindu said, “Mr. Zubair’s arrest is yet another instance of the regime’s characteristic intolerance, and its resentment towards fact-checkers who frequently expose its claims.” With the Prime Minister telling G-7 countries about the need to protect free speech and democratic values, the world is watching how Mr. Zubair’s case is handled, and that makes the story important. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more. Click here The Hindu’s Editorials Deficit doubts: On concern over current account deficit Time for vigilance: On monkeypox cases in India The Hindu’s Daily Quiz Who is the Chairman of the University Grants Commission of India? Ved Prakash Jagadesh Kumar Arun Nigavekar Bhushan Patwardhan To find out the answer and play the full quiz, click here [logo] Editor's Pick 16 JULY 2022 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Mohammed Zubair gets bail, but not free yet A Delhi court on Friday [granted bail]( to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in a case related to a tweet posted by him in 2018. “The voice of dissent is necessary for healthy democracy. Therefore, for mere criticism of any political party it is not justified to invoke Sections 153A (promoting enmity) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts to outrage religious feelings) of the IPC,” the court said. Mr. Zubair, however, will not walk free till he gets bail in all six cases filed against him in Uttar Pradesh. He was arrested by the Delhi Police on June 27 in this FIR, filed based on a social media complaint claiming the tweet hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. The tweet in question contained an image from a 1983 CBFC-approved film Kissi Se Na Kehna where a fictional hotel’s name had been changed from ‘Honeymoon hotel’ to ‘Hanuman hotel’. With this, Mr. Zubair had posted the text: “Before 2014: Honeymoon Hotel/After 2014: Hanuman Hotel”. Granting Mr. Zubair bail in this case, Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala held, “The applicant/accused is also stated to have used the words “Before 2014 and After 2014” to point out towards a political party. In Indian democracies the political parties are open for their criticism… The voice of dissent is necessary for healthy democracy.” Of the six U.P. cases, Mr. Zubair has been arrested in three (Hathras, Lakhimpur Kheri, and Sitapur). In the Sitapur case, he has been granted interim bail by the Supreme Court and in the Hathras and Lakhimpur Kheri cases, he is currently in judicial custody. Mr. Zubair’s lawyers have already moved the top court seeking quashing of the U.P. FIRs or clubbing them together and moving them to Delhi. As for the case over the 2018 tweet, the judge held that there was no offence in naming a hotel or institution after a Hindu god if done without malice, noting that “Hindu religion is one of the oldest religions and most tolerant”. It added, “It is also not out of place to mention that the alleged tweet of the accused was made in the year 2018 but till the date of registration of the present FIR in 2022, no other complaint was received that the tweet of the accused is offensive to the Hindu community or showing disrespect to Lord Hanuman.” The court went on to note that though the Delhi Police had registered the FIR based on the hurt sentiment of a Twitter user, “till today during the investigation the police has failed to establish the identity of said Twitter user who felt offended by the tweet of the accused” and record their statement under Section 161 of the CrPC. On the now-added charge under Section 35 of the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act, the court agreed with Mr. Zubair’s lawyers that he and his company Alt News had exercised all necessary due diligence as called for under Section 39 of the FCRA to prevent the receipt of any foreign contribution. In an [editorial]( The Hindu said, “Mr. Zubair’s arrest is yet another instance of the regime’s characteristic intolerance, and its resentment towards fact-checkers who frequently expose its claims.” With the Prime Minister telling G-7 countries about the [need to protect free speech]( and democratic values, the world is watching how Mr. Zubair’s case is handled, and that makes the story important. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? 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