SC grants interim bail to Mohammed Zubair in all six cases registered across UP
"No justification to keep him in continued custody and subject him to endless rounds of custody," the top court said. The journalist must be released by 6 pm today, ordered SC.
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New Delhi, July 20: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to Alt News co-founder and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair in all FIRs lodged against him in Uttar Pradesh.
"No justification to keep him in continued custody and subject him to endless rounds of custody," the top court said. The journalist must be released by 6 pm today, ordered SC.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant, and AS Bopanna also rejected the UP government's plea to stop him from tweeting. "It's like asking a lawyer not to argue... A person not to speak. Whatever he does, he will be responsible in law, but we can't ask a journalist not to write," the bench said.
A consolidated investigation is required, said the SC as it clubbed all the FIRs against Zubair and transferred the cases from UP to Delhi. The apex court directed the journalist to be enlarged on bail in all the FIRs after depositing bail bond of ₹20,000 before the CMM at the Patiala House court in Delhi.
A special investigation team (SIT) constituted by the UP government is rendered redundant and disbanded, the top court ordered. Zubair has been asked to move the Delhi high court for quashing of FIRs. The order on transfer of FIRs to Delhi will be applicable to cases in other states and to any future complaints lodged against the journalist.
Earlier, he had been granted bail by a Delhi court in the case filed by the Delhi Police for a tweet he had shared in 2018 that had allegedly hurt religious sentiments.