Alt News' Zubair remanded to 14-day judicial custody in Hathras case

Zubair was brought to the Hathras court from Delhi's Tihar jail with a Delhi Police escort, and remanded to judicial custody till July 27

Mohammed Zubair
Mohammed Zubair
Press Trust of India
2 min read Last Updated : Jul 14 2022 | 5:11 PM IST

A Hathras court on Thursday remanded Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair to 14 days' judicial custody in a case in which he is accused of hurting religious sentiments, his lawyer said.

Zubair was produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate Shivkumari under heavy security in connection with a case filed at the Sadar Kotwali police station on June 14.

The journalist who founded a fact-checking website faces similar cases in different places over a Twitter post four years back, which the complainants say outraged Hindu sentiments.

Zubair was brought to the Hathras court from Delhi's Tihar jail with a Delhi Police escort, and remanded to judicial custody till July 27.

His lawyer Umang Rawat argued that since the matter is four years old, the journalist's arrest was malafide and made under political pressure."

On Tuesday, the Uttar Pradesh Police had constituted a special investigation team (SIT) for a "transparent" probe into cases lodged against him in various districts.

The team headed by Inspector General (Prisons) Preetinder Singh has been asked to conduct an investigation expeditiously and submit a charge sheet in court.

Separate FIRs have been lodged against Zubair in Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar and Hathras districts in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly hurting religious feelings, making sarcastic remarks on news anchors and disrespecting Hindu deities.

His lawyer told the Hathras court that the investigating officer in the case should be a technical expert " as the case related to an IT matter.

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court extended Zubair's interim bail till further orders in a case lodged in Sitapur district.

But the relief did not have an effect as the journalist was already in judicial custody ordered by a Delhi court in another case.

The Delhi Police had arrested him on June 27 for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through one of his tweets.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Subscribe to Business Standard digital and get complimentary access to The New York Times

Quarterly Starter

₹900

3 Months

₹300/Month

SAVE 25%

Smart Essential

₹2,700

1 Year

₹225/Month

Save 46%

Super Saver

₹3,900

2 Years

₹162/Month

Subscribe

Renews automatically, cancel anytime

Here’s what’s included in our digital subscription plans

Access to Exclusive Premium Stories Online

  • Over 30 behind the paywall stories daily, handpicked by our editors for subscribers

Complimentary Access to The New York Times

  • News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter & The Athletic

Business Standard Epaper

  • Digital replica of our daily newspaper — with options to read, save, and share

Curated Newsletters

  • Insights on markets, finance, politics, tech, and more delivered to your inbox

Market Analysis & Investment Insights

  • In-depth market analysis & insights with access to The Smart Investor

Archives

  • Repository of articles and publications dating back to 1997

Ad-free Reading

  • Uninterrupted reading experience with no advertisements

Seamless Access Across All Devices

  • Access Business Standard across devices — mobile, tablet, or PC, via web or app

More From This Section

Topics :Alt NewsIndian JudiciaryFake news

First Published: Jul 14 2022 | 3:21 PM IST

Next Story