Ghaziabad attack video: Karnataka High Court allows Mohammed Zubair to withdraw transit anticipatory bail plea after UP Police records statement

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday allowed Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of fact-checking portal 'AltNews', to withdraw his transit anticipatory bail plea in relation to a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Uttar Pradesh Police over his tweets on the assault of a Muslim man in Ghaziabad..The order was passed after Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for the petitioner informed the Bench that as per the notice issued by the police under Section 41A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the petitioner had appeared before the police on Monday and his statement was recorded.Therefore, it was prayed that Zubair may be permitted to withdraw the petition with a liberty to approach the court if there is any threat of arrest by the respondent Police in the future."Counsel Vrinda Grover appearing through Video Conference seeks permission of court to withdraw petition, reserving liberty to the petitioner to approach the court at appropriate time in event there is any threat of arrest to petitioner. The request is granted. Petitioner is disposed of as withdrawn," Justice Mohammed Nawaz recorded in the order. .The Court had issued notice in Zubair's plea last week. .Ghaziabad attack video: Karnataka High Court issues notice in Mohammed Zubair transit anticipatory bail plea.During the previous hearing, the Court was informed that the UP Police had served Zubair notice under Section 41A of the CrPC seeking his presence before the investigating officer on June 28 to record his statement in relation to the FIR registered.“That in the absence of a transit anticipatory bail, the result would be that another State’s Police could arrest the Petitioner from their home State without them having the opportunity to apply for anticipatory bail at all. The only option then left would be to apply for regular bail once he is arrested and taken to the State in which the case is registered.”.Zubair and other journalists and social medial platform Twitter, web portal The Wire etc were named in an FIR registered at Loni Border Police Station, Ghaziabad, for offences punishable under Sections 153 (provoking to cause riots), 153A (promoting enmity between religious groups), 295A (insulting religious beliefs), 505 (statements inducing public mischief) & 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.The FIR was registered in the backdrop of a video wherein an elderly Muslim man was asked to shave his beard and was forced to chant "Vande Mataram" and "Jai Shri Ram".However, the Uttar Pradesh Police had ruled out any "communal angle" and said that Sufi Abdul Samad, the elderly man, was attacked by six men who were unhappy over the tabeez (amulets) he had sold them.The FIR stated that the accused circulated a video of the incident on their Twitter handles without checking its authenticity, and that they gave the video a communal angle and intended to incite communal hatred between religious communities.The police also stated that the views expressed while sharing the videos weren't individual opinions; rather they were shared with a clear intention, and the sharing of the video indicates a criminal conspiracy..[BREAKING] Karnataka High Court grants interim protection to Twitter MD Manish Maheshwari in FIR filed by UP Police.Recently, the High Court had granted interim protection from arrest to Twitter India Managing Director, Manish Maheshwari in relation to the FIR filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police over the Ghaziabad attack video.Yesterday, the UP Police had moved the Supreme Court challenging this order.