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Delhi HC adjourns Zubair's plea against remand for 4 weeks, issues notice to police
The Delhi high court clarified that the proceedings in the case of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair before the magistrate will continue without any prejudice. Arrested on Monday, Zubair's 4-day remand will end on Saturday and he will be produced before the Patiala House Court tomorrow.
The Delhi high court on Friday adjourned Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair's plea against the four-day remand, which will end tomorrow, by four weeks as the court posted the matter for its next hearing on July 27. The high court issued notice to the Delhi police and asked them to file a reply within two weeks. The Delhi high court also clarified that the proceedings before the magistrate will continue without any prejudice.
Arrested on Monday in connection with a 2018 tweet, Zubair was first sent to a day's custody and then was given four days' remand. Today's plea was against the remand.
Appearing for Zubair, his lawyer Vrinda Grover argued that there is nothing offensive in the said tweet for which he has been arrested. As a four-member team of the officials from the IFSO wing of the Delhi Police took Zubair to his residence in Bengaluru and seized a laptop, Zubair's lawyer questioned the purpose of spending public resources on this, including a flight tour.
“It is allowing them to invade into the heart of my privacy. And it's like plunging a dagger into the heart of my rights,” Vrinda Grover said arguing on behalf of Zubair referring to the fact that despite producing the police complaint filed of the loss of Zubair's old mobile phone from where the said tweet was posted, his present mobile phone was seized.
“The question is did a case of this nature warrant a remand? Could my mobile or laptop be directed to be seized? These are very essential questions to be determined particularly wrt electronic device. This has become a pattern, arrest for a very small matter,” Grover said.
Zubair's lawyer argued that no notice under 41A was given to join the investigation. "I could have been interrogated for 24 hrs. But the same day of my arrest, I was taken to the duty magistrate's house at Burari at night," Grover said arguing for Zubair.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that there are provisions under the law to seize devices (mobile, laptop). "Against Zubair, there was another FIR in 2020 where we did not find his role and a closure report will be filed only against Zubair. But in this FIR, the investigation is ongoing," Mehta said.
