Mohammed Zubair arrest: Delhi Police seek extension of custody; verdict to be delivered shortly [Read Arguments]

The Delhi Police on Saturday sought judicial custody of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in a case of promoting enmity among religious groups registered based on a tweet put out by him in 2018..Chief Metropolitan Magistrate heard Zubair and the Delhi Police today before reserving its verdict which will be delivered shortly. The Police besides invoking provisions of the IPC have also booked Zubair for offences under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA)..The case against Zubair was based on a complaint from a Twitter handle called Hanuman Bhakt alleging that Zubair had tweeted a questionable image with the intention to deliberately insult the God of a particular religion.“Such tweets were getting retweeted and it appeared that there is a brigade of social media entities, who indulge in insult mongering thereby leading to a possible ramification on communal harmony and is overall against the maintenance of public tranquility,” a statement by Delhi Police had said.Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police on June 27 and had been remanded to one-day police custody by the duty magistrate.He was then produced before CMM on June 28 and was remanded to further police custody for 4 days. He was initially booked for offences under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between religious groups) and 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).Subsequently, offences under Section 35 of FCRA and Sections 201 (destruction of evidence) and 120b (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC were added. .When the matter came up for hearing today after the end of 4-day remand, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Atul Shrivastava, representing the Delhi Police, sought further custody of 14 days in view of the newly added offences.He contended that Zubair had accepted donations from Pakistan, Syria and Australia. "If you accept donation from even a person from another country it is a concern. As per CDR, he received donations through Razor Pay from Pakistan, Syria, Australia, etc, which require investigation," the SPP said..Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for Zubair, submitted that the entire exercise was malafide. "It all starts with a 2018. I am summoned under subterfuge. Is it a crime to change SIM or phone? You can't cast aspersions on someone being clever. Why I am saying malafide is writ large that FIR is of June 20. A Section 41A notice is issued on June 24. They then entice me to join investigation (in another case)," Grover said.She was referring to the fact that Zubair was already being probed by Delhi Police in another case in which he had been granted protection by the Delhi High Court, and that he was summoned on the pretext of probe in that case before being arrested in the present FIR. "This is a phishing and roving inquiry and prohibited under law. That I have challenged in Delhi High Court," Grover added.She also expressed apprehension about the manner in which hard disks of the electronic devices were seized without "Data's sanctity has to be protected. It can be manipulated... Till date hash value of the phone unconnected to this matter.. they haven't given me the hash value. . Real likelihood of tampering which may take me to new sections," she said."No hash value, no clone is generated by cyber crime. I have serious apprehensions," she emphasised..On the manner of arrest, Grover maintained that it was malafide, citing the fact that the twitter account which flagged Zubair's tweet was an anonymous one with no followers."Complainant pulls out a 2018 tweet and had one follower. This account's tweet is on June 19 and the police files FIR on June 20. Who is this Twitter handle? Do they want to create communal disharmony in the country? What is this mischief," she demanded.She also pointed out that tweet in question was from 2018 and the photograph tweeted out was from a movie which is freely available on public domain. "The Indian Express published the same image in 2018. What is the image. It's a scene from Hrishikesh Mukherjee film. The film is available on Amazon Prime. It is a completely innocent, comic scene made by a renowned director... For 40 years it created no disturbance and now an account with 1 follower puts (sic) the tweet. Blatant case of malafide. They have no prima facie case. It's a malicious prosecution. They know it," she said..She also contended that the offence of promoting enmity between religious groups under Section 153A is not made out."There have two be two groups... What are the two groups? This is not the Indian Sentiments Hurt Code but Indian Penal Code. What are the two groups, the prosecution has failed to answer," she said.Further, she said that there has to be a malicious intent to outrage the religious feelings. "Anybody can find what I say offensive but there has to be malicious intent to outrage religious feeling is punishable. There is no reference to any religion in that tweet," Grover submitted.She also highlighted that the tweet in question by Zubair was made from a phone which was stolen and the phone seized by them Police was not the phone from which the tweet was made. "My phone was snatched by someone on a bike. I lodged a complaint in 2021. That was the phone I was using in 2018. This is document is on record. No aspersions can be cast on me for reformatting the phone. The phone they (Police) have taken (now), I was not using in 2018. It was lost," she maintained..Grover also vehemently opposed the submissions regarding FCRA violation contending that the funds go to a company and not Zubair. "Funds are going to a Section 8 company – Pravada Media. The foreign contribution is to a Section 8 company and not to me. Section153A ki kahani kahatm ho gayi toh media me daal do ki paisa le raha tha...name some countries (Once Section 153A story fizzles out, ply is to publish in media that he was receiving funds and name some countries)... I am making a statement that I was not taking the money. It was the company," Grover said.We cant make mockery of Arnesh Kumar guidelines, she added. "I'm not some terrorist that they need to secure my presence. Nobody else is being investigated. The idea was to trap me in a case which is a dead end. I would submit that Mohammad Zubair, a journalist and a fact checker, someone we should be proud of should be enlarged on bail," she said..The SPP for Delhi Police contended that this was the second bail application being argued by Zubair."In the first bail plea all issues have been raised. She has raised all these issues. This has already been agitated. It should have been mentioned that this is second bail application," he said.The SPP maintained that the guidelines for arrest in Arnesh Kumar case and requirement of Section 41A notice were complied with. "Section 41A compiled with. Court (in its order) has given grounds for remand," the SPP said.He also said that the fact that tweet is from 2018 would be of no help to the accused."This is not a time barred case. It is a continuing offence. It was 2018 tweet which is still there," he said.On the fact that the tweet was a screenshot for a 1983 movie, the SPP said,"There are other movies also where there are many vulgar things Can we upload anything we want? No. There has to be responsibility especially when you are a journalist," he said.He said that further details need to be unearthed and hence opposed the plea for release. "Deletion from phone after FIR is important," the SPP said.Grover countered by saying formatting phone is not an offence."I can have as many phones. Are all these suspicious circumstances?.. These are not narcotic substances," she said.Specifically on the image used in the tweet, Grover said that if the same is offensive, the Central Board of Film Certificate which gave certificate to the film should be moved against."CBFC certificate is not record. You have a problem with the film sue CBFC. Unfortunately Hrishikesh Mukherjee (director of the film) is not there to defend himself," Grover said.The SPP said that the tweet in question intentionally said 'Before 2014' and 'After 2014'. "Why have you said this," the SPP asked.He also contended that donations have come from Pakistan, Syria etc to Pravda, the company which runs Alt News and in which Zubair is a director."What investigation is left that you're saying PC could be required," the Court asked the Public Prosecutor. "Kis kisse paise liye wo niklenge. Agar aap paise lete hain paise from one foreign person also, agar aap registered media hain toh you have to take permission," the SPP said.The Court the reserved the matter for order.