The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday came down heavily on Mohammed Zubair, former journalist and co-founder of AltNews, for sharing a post on X (formerly Twitter), regarding an alleged hate speech delivered by Yati Narsinghanand, priest of Dasna Devi temple in Uttar Pradesh.
Noting that it was not appropriate for Zubair to post about the alleged speech on social media, the Bench of Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra orally asked the petitioner over his intentions behind the act.
It said if Zubair did not like the speech delivered by Yati Narshighanand, then instead of going to the social media handle and creating social disharmony, the petitioner could have filed an FIR against the priest or approached the court for relief.
After going through Zubair’s tweet, the High Court orally remarked
that it appeared that the AltNews co-founder was trying to create unrest.
The Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner argued that Zubair was simply exercising his freedom of speech by referring to an alleged speech delivered by Yati Narsinghanand, highlighting the conduct of the priest.
The lawyer apprised the Bench that many people had shared information on the matter on social media. He further argued that an FIR was lodged against the priest three hours before Zubair posted the tweet, adding that the petitioner did not know that an FIR had been lodged in the matter.
The High Court then enquired whether any law permitted an individual to resort to Twitter instead of approaching the court.
In response, the Senior Counsel said he could demonstrate that the Supreme Court had allowed such recourse. He then mentioned an FIR on which no action was taken.
An FIR was lodged by the Ghaziabad Police in November against Zubair, accusing him of promoting enmity among religious groups following a complaint by an associate of controversial priest Yati Narsinghanand.
Udita Tyagi, general secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust, lodged the FIR, claiming that Zubair posted a video clip of an old programme of Narsinghanand on October 3 with the intent to provoke violence by Muslims against him.
It was further 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.
The AltNews co-founder was booked under Sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 228 (fabricating false evidence), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 356(3) (defamation) and 351(2) (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The Uttar Pradesh police last month apprised the High Court that Section 152 of BNS, which criminalised acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India, had been invoked against Zubair. The state police said it was probing the case with utmost sincerity and due diligence.
Zubair moved the High Court against the FIR, contending that his tweet did not call for violence against the priest.
He said he had merely alerted the police authorities about Narsinghanand’s actions, seeking action under law, which could not amount to promoting disharmony or ill-will between two classes of people.
The case was last month listed before the Bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Prashant Kumar. After the Bench recused from hearing the plea, the matter came up before the Bench of Justice Varma and Justice Mishra.