New Delhi: Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair approached the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking to quash all six FIRs registered against him in Uttar Pradesh, news agency ANI reported. As per the report, Zubair has also challenged the constitutional validity of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed for a "transparent" probe into the six cases.
It is to be noted that the Alt News co-founder, who was produced before the Hathras court in a case registered against him under section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, etc.), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class), 298 (Uttering, words, etc with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person) of IPC and section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act, was sent to 14-day judicial custody on Thursday.
The Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Hathras had also recently issued B warrant against the fact-checker.
Notably, the Uttar Pradesh government has constituted a two-member SIT, headed by IG Dr Preetinder Singh, to investigate six cases filed against Zubair in Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar and Hathras.
Meanwhile, the Sessions Court of Patiala House Court on Thursday reserved its order on the bail petition of Mohammed Zubair in a case related to an "objectionable tweet" he had posted in 2018 against a Hindu deity. The order is likely to be passed on Friday, as per an ANI report.
Earlier, on Tuesday, Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala had adjourned the hearing after the prosecution sought time for a detailed argument in the case.