The Delhi Police on Thursday, 5 January told the Delhi High Court that they found “no criminality in so far as Zubair is concerned” amid a hearing of the case related to a 2020 tweet posted by Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair.
The fact-checker has not been chargesheeted, added Advocate Nandita Rao, the counsel for the Delhi Police.
What the court said: In response, the court listed the matter to be taken up on 2 March and added, "Before proceeding further, let the chargesheet be placed on record," reported LiveLaw.
A single judge bench of Justice Anup Jairam Bhambani was hearing the matter on Thursday.
What is the case: Zubair was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act by the Delhi Police following a complaint by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).
The complaint sent by NCPCR is based on a Tweet shared by Mohammed Zubair on 6 August 2020, in which he was responding to an abusive message from one Twitter user.
Responding to the abusive tweet, Zubair had posted a picture of the user's profile photo, while blurring the picture of a girl included in it.
“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,” Zubair had tweeted.
Reaction to the case: Reacting to the FIRs against Zubair, AltNews Founder, Pratik Sinha, tweeted the following statement:
“An attempt is being made to hound co-founder of Alt News, Mohammad Zubair (@zoo_bear) through misuse of legal apparatus. Alt News stands by Mohammad Zubair. Zubair has been in the forefront of fighting fake narratives, and his work hurts those who have weaponised misinformation to subvert the Indian democracy.”
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)