Over the past few days, a lot has been discussed over the FIR filed against Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair. This was in connection to some of his reportedly 'derogatory' tweets after being trolled by a Twitter user.
This sparked a debate in the country over the veracity of the FIR and the Twitter exchange. However, the Delhi High Court on Thursday granted interim protection to the fact-checker.
The tweet that led to the FIR
Alt News Co-founder Mohammad Zubair was recently charged with an FIR by Jagdish Singh over a tweet the former had posted. In the tweet, Zubair had said, "Hello Jagdish Singh, Does your cute grand daughter know about your part time job of abusing people on social media? I suggest you to change your profile pic."
The picture showed an elderly man with his granddaughter, Zubair had blurred the face of the child in the photo which he had posted on August 6th. However, soon after, Jagdish Singh had filed 2 FIRs one in Delhi and Chattisgarh against him for 'torturing' and 'threatening' his granddaughter. The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights had taken into cognizance the complaint.
For Jagdish Singh, according to a Newslaundry report, he saw red when his 10-year-old child was brought into the Twitter exchange. On his part, the journalist had only written the tweet in response to Jagdish commenting on one of his posts saying, "Lavde ka fact-checker." In the past, he has also called Zubair a 'Jihadi' and more such terms.
Moreover, Singh had filed the FIR and pressed charges for Zubair doxxing the child, which means to publish or reveal private and personal information on the internet. However, Zubair hadn't done that or revealed information to identify her in the tweet thread. However, Singh has alleged that a lot of people commented 'nasty things' about her which angered him.
Alt News had issued a statement on the matter saying:
"An attempt is being made to hound co-founder of Alt News, Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear), through misuse of legal apparatus. Alt News stands by Mohammad Zubair. Zubair has been at the forefront of fighting fake narratives, and his work hurts those who have weaponized misinformation to subvert the Indian democracy."- Alt News (@free_thinker/Twitter)
Jagdish Singh goes by @JSINGH2252 and co-founder Pratik Sinha has shared many of his tweets citing derogatory posts.
In the case, however, on Thursday the Delhi High Court provided Zubair with interim protection from arrest. The single bench of judge Yogesh Khanna directed the Delhi government and Deputy Commissioner to file a status report in 8 weeks on the matter, and a further hearing has been slated for December 8th.
