New Delhi: Fact-checker and Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair on Monday received some relief from the Supreme Court, which said it would hear on July 20 a plea by him, seeking to quash FIRs lodged against him in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly outraging religious feelings. The SC also told the UP police not to take any action in five cases registered against him until the next hearing on Wednesday, reported the NDTV.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and A S Bopanna passed the order after the matter was taken up for hearing upon being mentioned by advocate Vrinda Grover, who represented Zubair. The bench, which heard submissions for some time, directed the apex court registry to list it on July 20. “In the meantime, we direct that no precipitative steps shall be taken against the petitioner in connection with these five FIRs,” the bench said.
Zubair has already got bail in a sixth case in Uttar Pradesh, but he remains in jail due to the other FIRs. In the latest plea, he has sought bail and quashing of all six FIRs against him. As the state government urged the Supreme Court not to stop other courts from passing any orders, Justice DY Chandrachud said, “But the problem is the vicious cycle. He gets interim bail in one case but gets arrested for some other case.”
The fresh plea of Zubair has also challenged the constitution of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe these cases. The plea said all the FIRs filed in Uttar Pradesh that has been transferred to the SIT for investigation are the subject matter of the FIR, which is being probed by the Delhi Police Special Cell.
(With inputs from PTI)
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