New Delh: The Patiala session court on Friday granted bail to the Alt News Co-founder Zubair in connection to the 2018 Tweet, for which he was arrested last month.
The co-founder of fact-check website Alt News has requested the Supreme Court to cancel six cases filed against him by the Uttar Pradesh Police.He has also asked that the Special Investigation Team formed to investigate the cases be called off.
Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala granted the relief to Zubair on a bail bond of ₹50,000 and one surety of the like amount, and directed him not to leave the country without its prior permission.A magisterial court had on July 2 dismissed his bail plea and sent him to 14-day judicial custody (JC) in the case, citing the nature and gravity of the offences against the accused and observing that the matter was at an initial stage of investigation.
Zubair on 14th July had filed a petition asking for the quashing of the six FIRs that had been filed against him in various districts of Uttar Pradesh for allegedly hurting religious emotions. He also requested interim bail in each of the cases. The journalist’s action came when Zubair was being held in judicial custody for 14 days by a court in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh.