In a recent development, the Allahabad High Court has approved an amendment application by Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of Alt News, regarding his ongoing legal challenge against an FIR filed on October 8. The FIR accuses Zubair of sharing a video clip purportedly inciting violence against Dasna temple priest Yati Narsinghanand.
This judicial decision emerged after Ghaziabad Police augmented the FIR with a grave accusation under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which condemns actions threatening India’s sovereignty, unity, and integrity. The pivotal amendment was sanctioned by Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Prashant Kumar of the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday.
The FIR in question was lodged following a complaint by Udita Tyagi, General Secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust. Tyagi claims that Zubair’s post, featuring an old event of the priest, was designed to provoke violence against him by the Muslim community. Zubair’s post dated October 3, highlighted a controversial past appearance of Narsinghanand.
During a hearing on November 25, the High Court directed the investigating officer (IO) to clarify the specific criminal charges pressed against Zubair by the next session. Subsequently, the IO disclosed the addition of two new sections to the FIR: Section 152 of the BNS and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act, alongside the initial allegations under various sections of the BNS including those pertaining to promoting enmity, fabricating false evidence, and criminal intimidation.
Zubair has fervently sought the quashing of the FIR, arguing that his social media post did not incite violence but rather was a call to lawful action against the priest for previous contentious remarks. He also contends that sharing publicly available video content of Narsinghanand does not equate to defamation.
