New Delhi: Police in Uttar Pradesh have invoked a law dealing with acts endangering India’s sovereignty, unity and integrity against fact-checker Mohammed Zubair in connection with a post he made on alleged hate speech by a Hindu extremist leader, reports said.
The investigating officer in the case told the Allahabad high court on Wednesday (November 27) that the offence of endangering India’s sovereignty, unity and integrity as under Section 152 of the BNS had been added to the FIR against Zubair, Bar and Bench reported.
They also added Section 66 of the IT Act – which pertains to ‘computer offences’ – to the FIR, which otherwise invokes provisions dealing with promoting enmity, fabricating evidence, outraging religious feelings, defamation and criminal intimidation, the report also said.
Ghaziabad police filed the FIR against Zubair last month following a complaint by an aide of the Hindu extremist leader, Yati Narsinghanand.
Udita Tyagi, general secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Foundation, alleged that Zubair posted an older video featuring Narsinghanand in order to provoke violence against him by Muslims, as per PTI.
Earlier that month, controversy ensued after videos showing Narsinghanand making derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad were shared on social media.
Narsinghanand had allegedly made comments inciting people to burn the Prophet’s effigies at an event in Ghaziabad on September 29.
Muslims in several places in Uttar Pradesh took to the streets in protest and demanded action against the priest.
Zubair challenged the FIR against him in a writ petition filed in the Allahabad high court and sought protection against coercive action.
He said his post about Narsinghanand did not call for violence against him, but simply alerted police about Narsinghanand’s actions and sought legal recourse against him, PTI also reported.
His writ petition also said that when Narsinghanand allegedly made the derogatory statements against Prophet Muhammad, he was out on bail in a hate speech case and his bail conditions said he was not to make statements promoting communal disharmony.
According to LiveLaw, Zubair also argued that his seeking action against Narsinghanand by sharing videos of him in the public domain could not amount to defamation.
The court has scheduled the next hearing in the case for December 3, Bar and Bench‘s report said.
Section 152 of the BNS provides that:
“Whoever, purposely or knowingly, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or by electronic communication or by use of financial mean, or otherwise, excites or attempts to excite, secession or armed rebellion or subversive activities, or encourages feelings of separatist activities or endangers sovereignty or unity and integrity of India; or indulges in or commits any such act shall be punished with imprisonment for life or with imprisonment which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine.”
This is not the first FIR filed against Zubair. He was also arrested in June 2022 over a post he made in 2018.
His arrest had garnered significant attention and criticism from national and international media, civil society and opposition parties, with allegations that it was an attempt to silence dissent and target fact-checkers.
Alt News, the fact-checking outlet Zubair co-founded, said in a statement on Wednesday that it “stands in solidarity with Zubair as he faces this relentless legal intimidation”.
“This affidavit is yet another example of how state machinery is being used to intimidate individuals and organisations committed to exposing hate and misinformation,” it also said.
