A Delhi court has reserved its orders on the bail plea filed by AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair in the FIR registered by the Delhi Police for his 2018 tweet under the charge of promoting enmity among groups and hurting religious sentiments.
Though Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria had denied bail to Zubair earlier in July, Patiala House Courts Additional Sessions Judge Devendra Kumar Jangala reserved orders on Thursday. The orders will be pronounced tomorrow afternoon.
Zubair has been in custody since June 17, the date of his arrest. At the hearing today, Zubair’s lawyer Vrinda Grover said Zubair’s tweet is old. On which the Judge asked Delhi Police to give the case file and asked the police the date of the tweet.
Speaking on the tweet, SPP Atul Srivastava for the Delhi Police said the tweet still exists. He said Hanumanji is celibate and Zubair compared it to honeymoon.
The court then asked the SPP, “Have you recorded the statement of the accused? You haven’t even written the statement yet. How many victim statements have you recovered? You are the investigating officer. You have to enter the details of the person.”
The SPP replied it will be done soon. The SPP argued that Zubair had also received foreign funds from countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan etc in 2022. He also informed the court about foreign contributions and foreign sources under FCRA.
Zubair’s advocate Vrinda Grover said she will prove that there has been no foreign contribution and the FCRA rules have not been violated.
Delhi Police countered saying they had contacted those who gave the money to Zubair. Even if a person gives money, then his information has to be given. The maximum punishment for not disclosing this is 5 years. The Act does not say whether it is a cognizable offense or a non-cognizable offence. It was said on behalf of Zubair that the case of FCRA is not made out in my case.
Grover then said the AltNews twitter picture reads, Donate now. She said no foreign contribution has been received in my personal or Media Foundation account. Under the donate now text, it is written in bold that we do not take foreign donations since we are not registered under FCRA. That’s why I don’t take foreign donations, Grover said.
Grover said AltNews only accepts donations from Indian citizens and only through Indian bank accounts. The usual amount raised is usually Rs 500, Rs 100, Rs 1000, it rarely goes to Rs 10,000. Every donor submits their PAN number and address. All this information is in the public domain.
On Delhi Police argument that some money was transferred from outside the country including Pakistan, Grover said I am an Indian citizen and I have an Indian bank account. When I go abroad my citizenship does not change, my PAN does not change, but my IP address changes abroad. The police are presenting a wrong picture regarding IP address.
The Delhi Police said Zubair got Rs 56 lakh in which FCRA has been violated and they were investigating it honestly. If Zubair is granted bail, he can destroy certain evidences, it was argued for Delhi Police which opposed granting bail to Zubair.