‘Triumph of liberty…’: Politicians hail Mohd Zubair's release, Chidambaram makes a plea to SC

The Supreme Court gave him interim bail in all FIRs lodged against him in Uttar Pradesh, saying "exercise of the power of arrest must be pursued sparingly".

A number of politicians, mostly from the Opposition, hailed the release of Alt News co-founder and journalist Mohammed Zubair from Tihar jail late on Wednesday after spending 24 days behind bars. The fact-checker was arrested by the Delhi Police last month for allegedly "hurting religious sentiments" through a satirical tweet he made in 2018.

The Supreme Court gave him interim bail in all FIRs lodged against him in Uttar Pradesh, saying "exercise of the power of arrest must be pursued sparingly".

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and AS Bopanna also refused to restrain Zubair from tweeting in the future as sought by the Uttar Pradesh government, saying it is like restraining a lawyer from arguing.

As videos of Zubair coming out of the jail emerged, political leaders, including Congress' P Chidambaram and TMC MP Mahua Moitra, took to Twitter to congratulate the journalist and laud the judiciary.

"It is the triumph of liberty over tyranny," said Chidambaram on Twitter, while urging the Supreme Court to release "all other Zubairs too and put an end to the abuse of the power of arrest."

Moitra, who has landed in a controversy and if facing multiple FIRs over a comment on Goddess Kaali, wrote, "Truth always prevails."

Youth Congress national president Srinivas BV shared a video of Zubair being released from the jail and wrote, "Welcome Back, Zubair. More power to you!"

Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi also took to Twitter to congratulate Zubair.

Supriya Shrinate, social media chairperson for the Congress in UP, shared a photograph of Zubair with his lawyer on Twitter and wrote, "This visual fills my heart with both happiness and remorse."

"Glad to see Zubair walk out. But he should never have been jailed in the first place," she added.