HC extends stay on arrest of Alt News co-founder Zubair

Allahabad HC extends stay on Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair's arrest until March 3 over an FIR linked to his 'derogatory' post about Yati Narsinghanand.

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday extended the stay on the arrest of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair until March 3 (Monday) in connection with an FIR lodged against him over alleged ‘X’ Post (formerly Twitter) on Yati Narsinghanand’s ‘derogatory’ speech.

(Pic for representation only)

The bench comprising Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice YK Srivastava passed the order in a petition filed by Zubair challenging an FIR lodged against him accusing him of promoting enmity among religious groups, among other charges.

The FIR was lodged by an associate of priest Yati Narsinghanand.

In the complaint made by Udita Tyagi, general secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust, it was claimed that Zubair posted a video clip of an old programme of Narsinghanand on October 3, 2024 with the intent to provoke violence by Muslims against him.

It has further been alleged in the complaint that Zubair posted edited clips of the priest on X (formerly Twitter), containing Narsinghanand’s alleged incendiary remarks on Prophet Muhammad, to incite radical sentiments against the controversial priest. In his X Post, he called the alleged speech of Narsinghanand ‘derogatory’.