This FIR was lodged over Zubair’s social media post on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), where he highlighted an alleged inflammatory speech made by Yati Narsinghanand, a controversial priest.
![[BREAKING] Allahabad High Court Extends Stay on Arrest of Alt News Co-Founder Mohammed Zubair](https://i0.wp.com/lawchakra.in/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Alt-News-2.jpg?resize=800%2C450&ssl=1)
Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court today (6th Jan) has extended the stay on the arrest of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair until January 16, 2025. The court provided Zubair with 10 more days to file a rejoinder to the State Government’s counter-affidavit concerning an FIR filed against him.
This FIR was lodged over Zubair’s social media post on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), where he highlighted an alleged inflammatory speech made by Yati Narsinghanand, a controversial priest.
A bench of Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Yogendra Kumar Srivastava passed the order while hearing Zubair’s plea challenging the FIR. Earlier, on December 20, 2024, the High Court had stayed his arrest until January 6, observing, “he is not a dreaded criminal.”
In its six-page order, the court preliminarily noted, “From the reading of the FIR, an offence under Section 196 BNS is made out; however, whether Section 152 BNS is made out against him or not is to be seen.”
Earlier, The Bench of Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Nalin Srivastava noted:
“From the arguments which have been made, we are tentatively of the view that even though from the reading of the FIR one could make out that the offence under section 196 BNS, upto a large extent was being made out. Whether, however, from the allegations made in the FIR, any offence under section 152 BNS was being made out wherein the acts of the petitioner would excite people to commit offences of secession, armed rebellion, subversive activities or get encouraged to get feelings of separatist activities is to be seen.”
BRIEF FACTS
The FIR against Zubair was lodged by the Ghaziabad Police in October 2024 after a complaint by Dr. Udita Tyagi, General Secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust. Tyagi alleged that Zubair shared old and edited clips of Yati Narsinghanand’s speeches to incite radical sentiments against him. These clips, according to the complaint, contained the priest’s alleged derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad.
Zubair’s social media activity on October 3 included a series of tweets with videos. One video showed Yati Narsinghanand, the priest of Dasna Devi Temple, making controversial remarks about Prophet Muhammad.
In his post, Zubair tagged the Uttar Pradesh Police, asking, “What actions have been taken against Yati?” He also described the speech as “derogatory.”
The FIR booked Zubair under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including:
- Section 196: Promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion.
- Section 228: Fabricating false evidence.
- Section 299: Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.
- Section 356(3): Defamation.
- Section 351(2): Punishment for criminal intimidation.
Challenging the FIR, Zubair argued before the High Court that his post did not incite violence or promote disharmony.
He stated, “I merely alerted the police authorities about Yati Narsinghanand’s actions. This cannot amount to promoting ill-will or disharmony between two groups.”
Zubair emphasized that his actions were within the ambit of freedom of speech, stating,
“I was exercising my freedom of speech by referring to the alleged controversial speech of Yati Narsinghanand and highlighting his conduct.” He also pointed out that several news articles and social media accounts had reported on the same issue, and “I had not said anything different.”
During a previous hearing, which lasted approximately four hours, the Uttar Pradesh government presented its case, claiming that Zubair’s posts were misleading and harmful.
According to the government’s submission, “A series of X posts by Zubair on Yati Narsinghanand’s alleged speech contained half-baked information and damaged and threatened India’s sovereignty and integrity.”
CASE TITLE:
Mohammed Zubair v State & Ors.
