The Allahabad High Court on Thursday declined to quash the FIR registered against Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair by the Ghaziabad Police for allegedly promoting enmity between religious groups. However, the court granted interim protection from arrest during the course of the investigation.
A division bench comprising Justices Siddhartha Varma and Dr. Y.K. Srivastava passed the order while hearing Zubair’s writ petition challenging the FIR and seeking protection from coercive action.
The FIR, filed on a complaint by Udita Tyagi, general secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust, accuses Zubair of intentionally provoking communal tensions by posting an edited video clip on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). The video, uploaded on October 3, 2024, featured controversial remarks made by priest Yati Narsinghanand in an earlier programme. Tyagi alleged that Zubair’s post, which termed the speech as “derogatory,” was an attempt to incite violence by Muslims against the priest.
Zubair, in his plea, denied the allegations, stating that his post merely sought police action based on public domain content showing Narsinghanand making inflammatory comments. He argued that drawing attention to such remarks cannot be equated with promoting disharmony or defaming anyone under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Earlier, the High Court had reserved its decision on March 3 after hearing submissions from both parties. While the court declined to quash the FIR, it clarified that Zubair would not be arrested while the investigation remains ongoing.
