Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair's bail plea hearing in a Delhi court has now been postponed for Thursday after a brief spell of arguments on Tuesday morning. The 33-year-old journalist was arrested over a 2018 tweet by the Delhi Police last month for allegedly trying to incite communal tensions.
The postponement of the bail hearing comes ahead of a hearing in the Supreme Court on a plea filed by Zubair, challenging the Allahabad High Court's refusal to cancel an FIR against him.
As the hearing began on Tuesday, Vrinda Grover, Zubair's lawyer, argued that "no violence or riots have been caused in the last four years due to the tweet in question". "This image has been published repeatedly in 2018, in social and print media. Nothing happened. Hum 2018 se 2022 shantipurvak pohoch gaye (We have reached peacefully from 2018 to 2022)."
The 2018 tweet - posted by Zubair - had a reference to a 1983 Bollywood movie, starring Farooq Sheikh and Deepti Naval. Grover referred to the FIR that, she said, highlighted that "words and picture used by Zubair against a particular religious community were highly provocative and more than sufficient to incite feeling of hatred amongst people which can be detrimental for maintenance of public tranquility."
"Thirty-four years later, the movie is being viewed, nothing has happened. It is still available. The State has the power to take down any tweet which may be objectionable. However, till date, the tweets are still there. There is malafide writ large."
{{/usCountry}}"Thirty-four years later, the movie is being viewed, nothing has happened. It is still available. The State has the power to take down any tweet which may be objectionable. However, till date, the tweets are still there. There is malafide writ large."
{{/usCountry}}As the hearing proceeded, Special Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastav - representing the Delhi Police- sought time and asked for posting the matter two days later, citing non-availability.
However, Grover objecting to this, alleging delay tactics: "Yesterday itself the Supreme Court has given a ruling on the bail and the personal liberty. We should follow those. He can appear via video conferencing. This bail was filed. It's a man's liberty. Yesterday, the top court passed an order. They have to be enforced by law of the land. I've challenged the remand, notice has been issued by HC," she said.
Zubair was arrested on June 17 by the Delhi Police in the 2018 tweet case. He was produced in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, in connection with a different complaint against him for allegedly calling controversial Hindu seers “hate mongers”.