The co founder of Alt News Mohammed Zubair told the Delhi High Court today that Delhi Police and its investigating officer (IO)have concocted the disclosure statement in the case concerning his tweet.
He has further alleged that this was done in order to unlawfully raid his residence and seize laptop and hard-disk which he has been using for journalistic fact-checking work.
As per Zubair there has been no disclosure statement given by him to the IO or any other police officer while he was in police custody or during the investigation.
Zubair has argued that if there is any such disclosure which is been relied upon by the Police ,then it is wholly false, wrong, concocted, and inadmissible in law and therefore all consequent proceedings including search and seizure premised on the concocted and false disclosures should be labelled illegal.
Zubair has said that the actions of the investigating officer in creating false and concocted disclosure statements to sustain the investigation are a subversion of the rule of law and makes a mockery of due process.
Zubair further said that the purported disclosures have been prepared while he was in the police custody any that all was without his knowledge.
Zubair mentioned that he came to know the same from the status report dt. 14.09.2022 filed by the Respondent (Delhi Police) in the captioned proceedings.
Zubair has approached the High court of Delhi challenging the court order by Patiala House Court which remanded him to police custody and the order permitted the examination and seizure of his laptop.
Delhi Police had filed a status report in the matter last month stating that Zubair disclosed to them that the laptop and mobile phone used by him for posting the tweet was at his residence in Bengaluru.
The fact-checker however refused the assertions made by the Delhi Police stating as he did not make any such disclosure for the tweet in question dates to 2018.
He further said that the tweet in question clearly state it was posted from an Android device (mobile phone), so it has no connection to any laptop.”
Zubair also denied the allegations by police on him posting content that triggered religious sentiments in order to gain popularity.
Zubair is currently out on bail in the FIRs registered by police of Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi
Though the matter was listed for hearing today before single-judge Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, it was been adjourned to March 9.