‘Not dreaded criminal’: Allahabad HC stays Zubair’s arrest in FIR over X post till Jan 6

The Allahabad High Court has stayed the “immediate arrest” of Alt News cofounder Mohammed Zubair in connection with his X post featuring a video clip of controversial priest Yati Narsinghanand until January 6, Livelaw reported.

The court also questioned the charges under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, widely dubbed the new avatar of sedition, against the fact-checker.

The bench of Justices Siddhartha Varma and Nalin Kumar Srivastava said on Friday that Zubair is “not a dreaded criminal, and his immediate arrest is not necessary”. The court added, “At the most, his case is Section 196 of the BNS… It requires more detailed arguments regarding Section 152 BNS, separatist activity, and feeling of separative activity.” 

The matter will be next heard on January 6. 

Zubair was booked on October 8 over his X post featuring a video of an event at Ghaziabad’s Lohiya Nagar on September 29, where Narsinghanand allegedly called for the end of Islam. The FIR was lodged over a complaint by Udita Tyagi, general secretary of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust, over allegations of provoking the Muslim community against the self-styled godman.   

The fact-checker was initially booked under the BNS sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 228 (fabricating false evidence), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 356(3) (defamation) and 351(2) (punishment for criminal intimidation). Later, charges were added under Section 152 of the BNS for “endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India”. 

It’s not the first FIR against Zubair. Here’s a look at some cases that illustrate the Alt News cofounder’s role in flagging hate speech online.

The Dasna priest, Yati Narsinghanand, on the other hand, has repeatedly courted controversy for his hate speeches despite multiple FIRs against him. To know more about his ecosystem of hate, read this.

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