The Supreme Court on Monday said the "vicious cycle" of cases filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair for his tweets seem to have "similar content" and ordered the State to not take any precipitate action against him without the apex court's permission.
A Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and A.S. Bopanna has effectively thrown a protective cloak around the fact-checker till his petition for regular bail comes up before it for hearing on July 20.
The order comes even as a court in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh heard arguments on Monday for a 14-day police remand for Mr. Zubair.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for Uttar Pradesh, objected, saying an order of the apex court should not be seen to stay the hand of another court from passing a judicial order.
"What we have seen is that the contents of the FIRs [First Information Reports] seem similar... He has been given bail by a Delhi court and we gave him interim bail in the Sitapur case... The moment he gets bail in one case another case is registered... It is like a vicious cycle," Justice Chandrachud addressed Mr. Mehta.
Makes urgent mention
The turn of events began in the morning when advocate Vrinda Grover made an urgent mention before Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana for early hearing, possibly on Monday itself, of Mr. Zubair's petition seeking interim bail in the five cases in Uttar Pradesh.
The CJI had agreed to list the case before Justice Chandrachud and asked Ms. Grover to mention it there.
Ms. Grover appeared before Justice Chandrachud shortly thereafter and pressed for an urgent hearing, saying Mr. Zubair's life was in danger and he should be protected by the apex court. Mr. Mehta, who was appearing in another case, was also present at the time in the courtroom.
Justice Chandrachud told Ms. Grover that the court would take up the matter in a few minutes, giving time to Mr. Mehta to peruse the case records. When the case was called up, Ms. Grover submitted that "cash rewards" from ₹1,000 to ₹50,000 were offered to people to successfully initiate criminal action against Mr. Zubair.
"This is all on social media and no action was taken by the Uttar Pradesh Police," she submitted.
Ms. Grover detailed the quick succession of cases registered against Mr. Zubair in an effort to keep his custody "ever-green". FIRs were registered in Uttar Pradesh at Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri and Hathras.
"He was arrested on June 27 in the Delhi case. Six other cases were registered in different districts of Uttar Pradesh. When he was remanded in judicial custody in the Delhi case, a production warrant from Sitapur arrives. When the Supreme Court gave interim bail to him on July 8 in the Sitapur case, the FIR is acted upon in Lakhimpur Kheri case. When he was granted bail on July 15 in the Delhi case, the Hathras production warrant arrives where the police have sought a full 14-day remand... Even I am finding it difficult to keep track," Ms. Grover submitted.
She said the offences arraigned against him mandate punishment of only three years.
"Direct threats for him to be killed are being made... Not a single action has been taken," Ms. Grover emphasised.
"This kind of targetting must end... You may not like a tweet, but what is the purpose of making a criminal offence out of it?" Ms. Grover asked.
