Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair Wednesday told the Supreme Court that instrumentalisation of criminal law machinery cannot be used to harass journalists and his tweets neither incite anyone nor are derogatory in any manner.
Zubair through his counsel submitted that this is an age of social media where news travels faster than lightning and the job of someone who is debunking false information may draw the ire of others but "the law cannot be weaponisd against him. It is a clear case of silencing a fact checker."
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant, and AS Bopanna was told by advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for Zubair, that all the FIRs lodged against him should be quashed or in the alternative be clubbed with the FIR lodged by the special cell of Delhi police.
"This instrumentalisation of criminal law machinery cannot be used to harass a journalist. These six FIRs are based on tweets of which not a single one incites anyone or is derogatory in any manner," she said.
Grover said that a total of six FIRs have been lodged in UP and there is one other FIR lodged under Chandauli police station which she was not aware of and all these FIRs are the subject matter of investigation of the first FIR lodged in Delhi investigated by the special cell.
She said that in the Delhi FIR, the scope of the investigation has been expanded and they have invoked provisions of FERA to look into the funding of Alt News and have even conducted a search and seizure operation in which Zubair's laptop has been seized.
"After I got bail in the Delhi police FIR, an FIR was lodged in Hathras. The Delhi police have invoked various sections of IPC and now they have invoked provisions of FERA and wants me on remand to Ahmedabad office of Alt News to seize the laptops and other gadgets," she said, adding that a payment platform has clarified that all the funding to the Alt News is domestic.
She submitted, "What type of remand is this that I have to be taken wherever my office is situated. It is a statutory abuse of the power of investigation. There is a direct threat to his life. A bounty has been announced on his head. We asked for a video conference appearance of his from Tihar jail in view of threats but it was denied. Now they want me to take me in and out of Tihar jail to different places."
Grover referred to the tweets and said that these tweets which are being investigated by the Delhi police are also being investigated by the UP police in different FIRs lodged in Hathras, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ghaziabad, Sitapur, and Muzaffarnagar.
"Whenever relief is granted by the courts in one FIR, suddenly a dormant FIR gets activated and I am being remanded. If you look at the tweets, there is no incitement whatsoever and the language of these tweets is also not improper. There is no prima facie case made out for promoting enmity," she said.
Grover said that there is a network in place which comes into action the moment a court grants relief to this fact checker, who by his tweets points to the hate speeches or fake pictures of the mosque used by a TV channel which could incite communal disharmony.
She said that a special investigation team was formed by the UP police the day the top court granted him relief in Sitapur FIR, which is based on a tweet already under investigation by the Delhi police.
She submitted that similarly worded notices have been issued by three police stations of Uttar Pradesh where FIRs are lodged against Zubair, seeking details of bank statements and other financial records.
"This funding to Alt News is also being investigated by the Delhi police," she said, adding, "How I am supposed to defend myself? I may not have the resources to defend myself when a prima facie case of cognisable offence is not made out against me. Therefore, I am seeking quashing of FIRs lodged against me."
Grover, who initially while responding to the query of the bench said that she was not seeking quashing of FIR lodged in Delhi, later said that she is not conceding any of her legal remedies and would avail it whatever is available under law.
She said that the foundation of these FIRs lodged in UP is such that when a relief is granted by any court, a dormant FIR becomes active and Zubair is served the notice.
Additional advocate general Garima Prashad, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, said that the petitioner is not a journalist and alleged that "he is earning by making malicious tweets. The more malicious the tweets are, the more payment he gets".
"He has accepted that he has received Rs 2 crore for his tweets. He is no journalist," she said, adding that here is a person who takes advantage of hate speech videos and makes them viral to create a communal divide.
Prashad added that from 2.5 lakhs followers, Zubair's followers on Twitter have swelled to five lakhs due to his act of tweeting these kinds of videos.
She said that some of the FIRs lodged in UP are prior to the one lodged in Delhi and some are after.
"An SIT was formed by UP police as it was a serious matter and to ensure that local police do not adopt a callous approach. It is headed by an IG rank officer and DIG as its member. The state government's endeavour is to maintain communal harmony in the state. There is no conscious viciousness," she said.
Zubair was arrested by the Delhi police on June 27 for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through one of his tweets.
Multiple FIRs were lodged against him in UP for his tweets.
