In both the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh cases where Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair was arrested, the police have after registering the FIR told courts that they have “removed” and “added” certain Sections in the cases.
On June 28, the Delhi police told a local court they had “removed” Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code and “added” Section 295A (deliberate act to outrage religious feelings). This submission came as Mr. Zubair’s lawyer pointed out that a tweet could not possibly fall under the ambit of Section 295 (injuring or defiling a place of worship). At the next remand hearing on July 2, the Delhi police told the court they were also “adding” Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (destruction of evidence) of the IPC and Section 35 of the Foreign Contributions (Regulations) Act (FCRA).
Similarly, after having registered the FIR on June 1, the Sitapur police on July 7 informed a court that they were “adding” Section 153A and in the July 8 Supreme Court hearing, informed that it had “removed” Section 67 of the IT Act from the case. This was shortly after senior advocate Colin Gonsalves questioned how the tweet in question could fall under the ambit of Section 67 of IT Act (punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material electronically).
