Breaking: Supreme Court Extends Interim Bail Of Mohammed Zubair After State Of UP Seeks Time For Counter Affidavit

The Supreme Court today extended the interim bail granted to Mohammed Zubair until further orders, after the State of UP sought time to file its Counter Affidavit. 

The Bench comprising of Justice D. Y. Chandrachud and Justice A. S. Bopanna adjourned the matter to September 7 after Additional Solicitor General S. V. Raju sought time on behalf of the state to file its affidavit stating that Zubair is already protected by the Order of the Court. 

Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves agreed to adjournment and extension of the interim order. He also said that the matter requires a detailed hearing since it affects many other cases also.

Mohammed Zubair had been granted conditional interim bail for a period of five days in the case registered in Uttar Pradesh. The vacation bench of Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice J. K. Maheshwari had imposed a condition that he should not leave the jurisdiction of the Delhi court since he is in judicial custody in that case. The Court also imposed conditions that Zubair shall not tweet in the meantime or tamper with evidence.

The order was passed on the petition filed by the co-founder of Alt News, Mohammad Zubair challenging the order of the Allahabad High Court dismissing his petition seeking quashing of FIR filed against him at Khairabad Police Station, Sitapur under Section 295-A of the IPC and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Zubair has sought direction for staying the investigation on the FIR filed against him in Sitapur and for the Respondents not to proceed, prosecute or arrest him in relation to the FIR.

Zubair has in his petition claimed that the FIR filed against him is only to harass him. He has also claimed that the allegations against him are completely false, baseless and vague. He claims that the FIR filed against him is untenable in law and amounts to abuse of the process of law and any actions arising out of it would amount to a travesty of justice.

FIR was registered against Zubair for a tweet calling Hindu seers 'Hate mongers'.

The Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court had held that "the perusal of the record makes out, prima facie, offences at this stage and there appears to be sufficient ground for investigation in the case."

"The evidence has to be gathered after a thorough investigation and placed before the Court concerned on the basis of which alone the Court concerned can come to a conclusion one way or the other on the allegations levelled by the petitioner. If the allegations are bereft of truth and made maliciously, the investigation will say so", the Allahabad High Court had said.