A Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday recused from hearing a petition filed by Alt News journalist Mohammed Zubair seeking protection from arrest in a case filed by supporters of Yati Narsinghanand, the priest of Ghaziabad’s Dasna Devi Temple.
The Bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Prashant Kumar directed that the matter be placed before another bench.
On November 28, the Uttar Pradesh police told the Allahabad High Court that it has booked Alt News founder Mohammed Zubair under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), for endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
In an affidavit filed before the High Court, the State police said that it has added Section 66 of the Information Technology Act and Section 152 of the BNS in an existing FIR lodged against the journalist.
An FIR was initially lodged against Zubair 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 BNS.
Police had lodged the FIR on the basis of a complaint filed by Udita Tyagi, General Secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Foundation, alleging that on October 3, Zubair shared an old video clip of Narsinghanand with the intent to incite violence against him.
Tyagi, a close aide of Yati Narsinghanand, blamed Zubair, Arshad Madani and Asaduddin Owaisi for the violent protests that took place at Dasna Devi Mandir after a purported hate speech delivered by Yati Narsinghanand, the priest of Ghaziabad’s Dasna Devi Temple.
The Alt News founder had moved the High Court against the FIR, seeking protection from coercive action.
Earlier on November 25, the High Court had directed the investigating officer (IO) to file an affidavit by the next date of hearing, clearly specifying the penal Sections under which Zubair had been implicated.
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