The hearing on a bail request made by Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in a case involving an “objectionable tweet” he had sent in 2018 against a Hindu deity was postponed by a Delhi court on Tuesday, July 12, to July 14.
Further Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala postponed the hearing to Thursday as the prosecution requested more time for a thorough defense.
A separate case against Zubair was due for trial before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, according to SPP Atul Srivastava, who appeared by video conference. He pleaded with the court to postpone the proceedings.
At this point, defense attorney Vrinda Grover pleaded with the court to hear the case on Wednesday, July 13.
The prosecutor, however, stated that he will not be present in court on Wednesday since he is in Bhopal.
Grover continued by stating that if Srivastava wasn’t accessible, another prosecutor might present their case. He is accessible via VC. This bond was submitted. A man’s liberty is at stake. Let’s discuss it tomorrow. He might show up on VC,” Grover suggested.
Srivastava then requested that the case be continued until July 14; the judge agreed.
The defense attorney disagreed with the police during the brief hearing with their claim that Zubair’s tweet was “highly inflammatory and more beyond substantial to foster an atmosphere of animosity amongst people which can be adverse for the preservation of public tranquility.”
She claimed that the picture in the tweets was from the 1983 Hrishikesh Mukherjee movie Kissi Se Na Kehna.
She asked the judge’s approval to show a clip from the film in question. However, the judge permitted the attorney to show the footage at a later time.
“This Twitter profile (of the case’s complainant) was created in 2021. He just has one adherent. He cannot access this tweet due to an algorithm. The Delhi Police discover it. They would have undoubtedly found all additional tweets containing the Twitter logo and text while doing social media surveillance, but they did not. There is blatant malfeasance,” she acquiesced.
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Court dismisses Zubair’s bail request
On July 2, a magistrate’s court denied Zubair’s request for release and sentenced him to 14 days in judicial detention (JC) in the case, emphasizing the seriousness and nature of the accused’s acts and noting that the matter was still in the early stages of the investigation.
He had been held in detention for five days before being sent to court-ordered judicial custody.
In its order, the court had taken note of the public prosecutor’s argument that the investigation was in its early stages and that it was highly likely that the accused would need to be held in police custody.
While dismissing the bail application, the judge also took into account the emergence of new sections over the course of the investigation.
