A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in connection with the 2018 tweet case, weeks after he was arrested.
The bail has been granted on a personal bond and surety of Rs 50,000. the fact-checker will not be able to leave the country without the permission of the court, the verdict said. The court, on Thursday, had reserved the order in the case for today.
Mohammed Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police on 27 June for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through one of his tweets and was sent to one-day police custody by the trial court on the same day.
Zubair was initially charged under sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Later, Delhi Police invoked sections 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC, and section 35 of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) for allegedly receiving foreign donations.
While he had moved a sessions court in Delhi for bail in the 2018 tweet case, a court in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras on Thursday remanded Zubair to judicial custody for 14 days in a case in which he is accused of hurting religious sentiments.
Zubair is accused in a total of seven FIRs, of which six are lodged in UP and one in Delhi. He has been in custody in four cases against him in Delhi, Sitapur, Hathras and Lakhimpur Kheri.
