[BREAKING] Mohammed Zubair remanded to 4-day police custody

A Delhi court on Tuesday remanded Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair to police custody for 4 days in a case of promoting enmity among religious groups registered based on a tweet put out by him in 2018..The order was pronounced by Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria. The Court said that Zubair has remained non-cooperative and that he has to be taken to Bengaluru for recovery of his mobile phone and laptop. It further rejected the argument that Zubair was not served Section 41A notice under the Code of Criminal Procedure. "Section 41A notice has been given to the accused and is part of record of the police file," the order said..Pertinently, the Court said that the argument that the image tweeted by Zubair in his tweet was from a 1983 movie, will not be of assistance to the accused at this stage."The submissions with respect to photograph which is a part of the tweet in question being a part of the movie 'Kissi se na kehna' of the year 1983 are also of no assistance to the accused at this stage," the order said..Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police on Monday and had been remanded to one-day police custody by the duty magistrate.He was then produced before Judge Sarvaria for further custody on Tuesday..He has been 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).The case against Zubair is 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 said..Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for Zubair, contended that the image tweeted by Zubair is a screenshot from a 1983 Hindi movie Kissi Se Na Kehna."This image is available in many tweets. This image is from a film of Hrishikesh Mukherjee - Kissi Se Na Kehna. It stars Farukh Shaikh and Deepti Naval. In the film, it is a newly married couple and they go to the hotel. This image which is being shown as a reason for arresting somebody is from a Hindi cinema...Ye film ban nahi huyi thi. Sabne dekhi thi. (This film was not banned. Everyone watched it)," she contended..She pointed out that many people had tweeted that image, but her client was being harassed for the work he does as a fact-checker. "My client is being targeted for his work. He may be challenging people who are powerful but that can't be a reason for his harassment," Grover said. She also submitted that the police was asking for Zubair's laptop. "They are seeking my laptop because I have been challenging many things. Laptop has nothing to do (with the case). It is a store house of my personal information. They want my laptop because I'm a journalist. Journalists have sensitive info," Grover said..Regarding the offences slapped against Zubair, Grover said,"The penalty under 153A is max 3 years. The penalty under 295 is up to 2 years. This is a tweet of 2018. Their own cause of action is March 2018. If an anonymous Twitter handle chose to create mischief in the country those reasons should be investigated."The acts alleged don't come under the purview of 153A, she added."Let us take the tweet of Hanuman Bhakt on face value. It is not a case of 153A. In any case, he is not the spokesperson of everyone...Who does it incite? What are the groups? What is the insult? Many tweeted and still no flutter. Honeymooners and brahmacharis are not two groups creating unrest in the country," Grover said..The Public Prosecutor appearing for the Delhi Police, said that it has become a trend to outrage the religious feelings of the Hindu community. "Yeh trend banaya hua hai ki famous hone ke liye religious feelings outrage karte hain. They outrage feelings of Hindu religion," he said. .He also contended that there were four more questionable social media posts by Zubair."Mahabharat character Sanjay is shown using the laptop. All applications are deleted from the mobile phone. He came with a blank phone. His deliberate act is there on record which is outraging religious sentiments," the PP said."There is requirement of police remand. This is the first time it came to our knowledge," he added.The PP also said that the complainant is not anonymous. "His details are there," the PP stated.

[BREAKING] Mohammed Zubair remanded to 4-day police custody

Aamir Khan

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