Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court has granted interim protection from arrest to Mohammed Zubair, a journalist and co-founder of Alt News, in a case filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for allegedly endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India, reports The Times of India.
A division bench comprising Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Nalin Srivastava directed the State to file a detailed response to Zubair’s plea seeking permanent relief from arrest. The court also ordered that no coercive action be taken against him until the next hearing, scheduled for January 6, 2025.
The case stems from a tweet posted by Zubair on social media platform X, in which he referred to a speech by Yati Narsinghanand, the priest of Ghaziabad’s Dasna Devi Temple, as “derogatory and hateful.”
The Uttar Pradesh Police lodged an FIR against Zubair following a complaint by Udita Tyagi, another priest at Dasna Devi Temple. Tyagi alleged that Zubair, on October 3, 2024, shared an old video clip of Narsinghanand with the intention of inciting violence against him.
In his defence, Zubair argued in his plea that his social media post neither promoted violence nor encouraged disharmony between communities. He stated that his intent was merely to inform authorities about Narsinghanand’s remarks and urge them to take legal action. The plea also contested the defamation charges, asserting that sharing publicly available content to seek lawful action does not amount to defamation.
The court’s decision to grant interim protection has been welcomed by media freedom advocates, who view the case as a litmus test for free speech and the accountability of public figures.
