Zubair’s SC plea: Quash six FIRs lodged in UP

New Delhi: Alt News cofounder Mohammed Zubair, on Thursday, moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of six FIRs lodged against him in several districts of Uttar Pradesh. In his fresh plea, Zubair has also sought interim bail in all six cases.

The plea of Zubair has also challenged the constitution of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) by the UP government to probe the six cases. It said all the six FIRs filed in UP that have been transferred to the SIT for investigation are the subject matter of the FIR which is being probed by the Delhi police special cell.

In the alternative prayer, the plea drafted by advocate Vrinda Grover, Soutik Banerjee, Devika Tulsiani, and Mannat Tipnis and filed through advocate Aakarsh Kamra, he also sought clubbing of six FIRs with the FIR lodged in Delhi. On July 12, the Uttar Pradesh Police constituted a Special Investigation Team f o r a “transparent” and expedit i o u s probe into cases lodged against Zubair in various districts of the state. The SIT is headed by Inspector General (Prisons) Preetinder Singh while IG Amit Verma will be its member.

Separate FIRs have been lodged against Zubair in Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, and Hathras districts on charges of allegedly hurting religious feelings, making sarcastic remarks on news a n - chors, disrespecting Hindu gods, and inflammatory posts. The top court had till further orders granted interim bail to Zubair in a case lodged against him in the Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh for allegedly outraging religious sentiments.

The accused has sought quashing of FIR lodged in Sitapur saying no case is made out against him. His plea against the Sitapur FIR is listed for hearing on September 7 before the top court. Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police on June 27 for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through one of his tweets. – PTI