Allahabad High Court Extends Stay on Alt News Journalist Mohammed Zubair’s Arrest
The Allahabad High Court extends the stay on Mohammed Zubair's arrest until January 27, allowing the state government to verify his lawyer's documents. FIR against Zubair cites allegations of promoting enmity.
Prayagraj, January 16: The Allahabad High Court has extended the stay on the arrest of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair until January 27. Zubair faces charges of promoting enmity between religious groups based on an FIR filed against him in October 2024 for a post on X (formerly Twitter) targeting controversial preacher Yati Narsinghanand.
The division bench, comprising Justices Siddharth Verma and Yogendra Kumar Srivastava, granted the state government additional time to verify documents submitted by Zubair’s lawyer. Earlier, Zubair had been given ten days to respond to the state’s affidavit.
The FIR was filed by Ghaziabad police following a complaint from an associate of Narsinghanand, alleging that Zubair’s social media activity fueled religious discord. In October, Zubair had posted a series of videos showing Narsinghanand making inflammatory speeches, including remarks offensive to the Prophet Muhammad. He tagged the Uttar Pradesh Police in his post, questioning what actions were taken against the preacher.
On December 20, the High Court had observed that Zubair did not appear to be a “hardened criminal” and initially granted a stay on his arrest until January 6, later extending it. The case continues to raise debates over free speech and the accountability of those spreading hate speech.
