A Delhi court today granted bail to AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair in a case against him for allegedly hurting religious sentiments in a tweet he posted in the year 2018. Zubair, however, will not walk free yet as he continues to battle a string of cases registered against him.
Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala of Patiala House Court had reserved the order on Thursday. The order granting bail to Zubair is conditional upon furnishing a bail bond of Rs. 50,000 with one surety and directions not to leave the country without the court’s permission.
The order by the sessions court came after Zubair moved the court on July 2 following a denial of bail by Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria on the same day. Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police on June 27 and continues to be in custody since then.
Zubair was arrested on charges under Section 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, etc.) and Section 295 (Injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) of the IPC. Charges under Section 295A along with Section 201 and 120B, and Section 35 of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 were later slapped against Zubair.
As per the Delhi Police, the FIR against Zubair is based on a complaint by a Twitter handle alleging that a tweet put out by Zubair in 2018 used a questionable image with a purpose to “deliberately insult the god of a particular religion.”
As per the FIR, the complainant has stated that Zubair’s tweet, referring to the renaming of one ‘Honeymoon Hotel’ after Lord Hanuman amounted to an insult to the Hindu religion.
Zubair, however, will continue to stay in jail in two cases filed in Uttar Pradesh. Zubair has also moved the Supreme Court urging that the six cases filed against him by the Uttar Pradesh Police be struck off. He has also challenged the UP government’s decision to constitute a Special Investigation Team to probe the cases against him, and demanded that it be called off.