[BREAKING] Supreme Court grants bail to Mohammed Zubair in all six UP Police FIRs; transfers FIRs to Delhi

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair in the six first information reports (FIRs) registered against him by the Uttar Pradesh Police (UP Police)..The Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and AS Bopanna passed the order after noting that Zubair had already been granted bail by the Patiala House Court in a similar case registered by the Delhi Police."Essentially the gravamen of allegations are tweets by him. He has been subjected to fairly sustained probe by Delhi Police. We don't find reason for his deprivation of liberty to persist further. We direct Zubair be released on bail on each of the FIRs in UP. Existence of powers of arrest must be distinguished from the exercise of powers of arrest, which must be used sparingly," the order said.There is no justification to keep Zubair in continued detention, especially since the allegations in the UP FIRs are similar to those in the Delhi Police FIR, the Court added..The Court noted that the case registered by the Delhi Police includes within its ambit a probe into Zubair's tweets as well as aspects relating to funding and alleged violations of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA)."Delhi Police has submitted a comprehensive status report showing the course of investigation, tweets which form part of the probe and search and seizure which was carried out on premises of petitioner. It is evident that probe by special Delhi Police cell is a comprehensive investigation which looks at the gamut of tweets by the petitioner. Petitioner was granted regular bail on July 15 by the Patiala House Court," the order said.Pertinently, the Court also clubbed all the six FIRs registered by the UP Police and transferred it to Delhi, in effect disbanding the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the UP Police to probe the cases against Zubair..The Court thus directed Zubair to produce bail bonds to the tune of ₹20,000 which will be presented before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Patiala House. Immediately after the submission of the same, the Superintendent of Tihar Jail must ensure that Zubair is released before 6 PM today, the Court directed.While parting with the matter, Justice Chandrachud said,"We cannot stop him from tweeting. We cannot anticipatorily interdict him from exercising his right of free speech. He will be answerable as per the law. Evidence is all in public domain.".Zubair had moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the six FIRs registered against him by the UP Police. The six cases registered against the Zubair are in Hathras, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, Lakhimpur Kheri and Sitapur."Regarding quashing, it must be clarified that Delhi Police FIR has offences of cognate nature which is similar to the UP police FIRs. It would be needed to club together all FIRs and hand over to one investigating authority. We are of the view that the prayer to club all UP police FIRs should be accepted. All FIRs registered against petitioner including the UP police FIRs be transferred to Delhi police special cell," the Court said.Thus the SIT formed by the UP government stands disbanded and is hereby redundant, the Court made it clear.Interestingly, the Court said that Zubair shall stand released on interim bail in any future FIR registered against him on the same subject matter..The top court had earlier granted him interim bail in the FIR registered in Sitapur. Subsequently, action was taken against him by the UP Police in 5 other FIRs, prompting the fact-checker to approach the top court seeking quashing of all six FIRs..Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for Zubair, informed the Court that 3 of the 6 FIRS are based on the same tweet."There are 3 FIRs based on the same tweet. Tweets are subject matter of all FIRs, it is not disputed. All are under 153A, 295A, 505 etc. Then there is Hathras where I am not named," Grover said.She also explained the content of the tweets and the proceedings against Zubair based on the same."There are 7 tweets. One is against Bajrang Muni, this is in Sitapur. Tweet 2 is of one showing the Mahabharata war which is subject matter of a FIR in Hathras. Now I am in remand and there is an application for 14 days' police custody which will be heard tomorrow in Hathras. Tomorrow, there is police custody hearing in Hathras. Then there is another case in Lakhimpur Kheri. Another application for remand in Lakhimpur Kheri is pending. There are FIRs in Chandoli, Muzaffarnagar," she pointed out.Grover contended that in none of these tweets has Zubair made any inciteful statements."Not a single tweet is there which shows incitement of disaffection or ill-will. FIRs say he has incited Muslims across the globe where as only UP Police is tagged (in the tweet)," she contended.She alleged that the criminal law machinery was being used to silence and harass him."Tweets may be different, but the tone of FIR and injury caused in all FIRs is same. This is using criminal law machinery to harass and silence me," she said. Regarding the scope of the inquiry and allegation of funding from foreign sources, Grover said,"What is the subject matter that they wish to investigate? They say derogatory remarks against Hindu Gods and Goddesses have been made since 2014 from multiple devices and such devices in with possession of Delhi police special cell. They then say I have received funding from abroad sources. Razorpay payment gateway has said that funding only from domestic sources was allowed. This is the statement of Razorpay."The investigation, she maintained, was vague and omnibus.She also expressed apprehension regarding the threats received by Zubair."There continues to real threat to his life and it says let him be brought to UP courts, bounty has been announced on his head. He is in Tihar Jail now. This is an orchestrated investigation. 14 days remand has been sought for vague, omnibus investigation. In Hathras, an omnibus remand application was made. same notices were issues by courts like in Sitapur. These issues are subject to investigation by Delhi Police and I have gone through all steps of CrPC. But if this goes on, then he may not live," Grover submitted..Additional Advocate General Garima Prashad, appearing for the UP government, submitted that Zubair, who calls himself a fact-checker, was posting tweets which were "spreading venom" and "instigating people". "The accused is not a journalist. He calls himself a fact checker. Instead of fact checking, he posts tweets which are getting viral and spreads venom and instigating people," he said.She further alleged that he was paid for such tweets."He has admitted that he has received 2 crores for such tweets. 12 lakhs is his quota. State is conscious that here is a person who instead of informing police, he takes advantage of videos, speeches etc which can create communal divide," Prashad said.She also contended that the State has taken action not due to the tweets per se, but the violence that occurred after such tweets."State is not here because of some tweets, but because of violence that has happened after such tweets. Please see the Ghaziabad case. This was the video of an old man who was taveez maker and that he was beaten up, he reported it in this manner, incident happened on June 5, 2021 and nothing happens till FIR is lodged against unknown persons," Prashad said."It is after this tweet and his own followers retweeting this to millions that communal disharmony was created in Ghaziabad. On June 28, Zubair gave a written apology since they did not check the facts," she added.She also alleged that there are tweets by Zubair demanding why people were not protesting. "There were tweets of June 6 which said why are people not protesting. His tweets were circulated as pamphlets and soon after the people came out of prayers and there was heavy violence. Accused from such violent scenes have admitted that they were given the pamphlets with tweets of Zubair printed," the AAG contended.The State wants to ensure that there is no communal disharmony, she maintained. She also referred to the fact that while granting interim bail to Zubair in the Sitapur FIR, the Court had directed him not to post any tweets."Thus, this Court realised that his tweets were not earnest tweets and it was not to promote love and affection between communities. We cannot have such ministries of hate," she said.She further said that the action by the State is not driven by any vendetta, but the sole aim is to ensure communal harmony. .The case against Zubair in Sitapur was registered for hurting religious sentiments after he had put out a tweet against Mahant Bajrang Muni, Yati Narsinghanand and Swami Anand Swaroop referring to them as 'hate mongers'.The Supreme Court had granted him interim bail in the Sitapur FIR.The Lakhimpur Kheri case against Zubair was registered last year in September, under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code [promoting enmity between different groups], on a complaint by one Ashish Kumar Katiyar, a journalist working at Sudarshan TV.The complainant had taken objection to a tweet posted by Zubair in May 2021. In the tweet, Zubair had said that a report carried on the said news channel, which super-imposed an image of a famous Medina mosque on an image of the Gaza strip, incorrectly showed that the said mosque was destroyed in Israeli air-strikes.The Uttar Pradesh government had also formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the six cases registered against Zubair in various districts of the State. The SIT is led by Preetinder Singh, Inspector General of Police (Prisons), and has Amit Verma, Deputy Inspector General of Police as a member.Zubair has also been booked by the Delhi Police in another case based on a 2018 tweet by him containing a screenshot of a 1983 Bollywood movie, Kissi Se Na Kehna.A Delhi Court had, on July 15, granted bail to Zubair in that case..[Read operative part of the order]