A Delhi court on Saturday denied bail to Alt-News co-founder Mohammed Zubair and remanded the journalist to 14 days in judicial custody, noting the probe was at “the initial stage”, considering the “overall facts and circumstances of the case” and given the “nature and gravity of offences”.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria of the Patiala House court here pronounced the order around 7 p.m., almost five hours after the Special Cell (IFSO) DCP K.P.S. Malhotra told the media in a “broadcast” message that Mr. Zubair’s bail had been rejected and that he had been remanded to 14 days in judicial custody.
The statement from the police had prompted Mr. Zubair’s counsel, Advocate Soutik Banerjee, to lash out at the police: “It is extremely scandalous and it speaks of the status of rule of law in our country today… How KPS Malhotra knows what the order is, is beyond me and this calls for serious introspection.”
