NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Monday said that it would hear Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair's plea today itself seeking to quash six FIRs lodged against him in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly outraging religious feelings.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna said that it would take up the matter at the end of the board after it was informed by advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for Zubair that he is being produced before Hathras court today and the remand order will be passed.
She said that the matter requires an urgent hearing as there is a threat to his life. The FIR was lodged against Zubair by the complainant after a cash prize was put on his head. This is the same FIRs and same allegations and same tweet. He is being produced before different courts of UP and remanded to judicial custody.
Today, he is being produced before Hathras court, she said. The bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to assist in the matter which it will take up after a break of 15-20 minutes.
Earlier, in the day, Zubair through Grover sought an urgent listing of his plea in the top court seeking quashing of FIRs lodged in UP.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana took note of the submissions of Zubair's lawyer that the petitioner, a fact checker, and journalist, has been facing a slew of FIRs and his plea needed an urgent hearing.
List it before Justice DY Chandrachud. You can mention before that bench, said the bench. The fresh plea of Zubair has also challenged the constitution of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the six cases.
The plea said all the six FIRs filed in Uttar Pradesh that have been transferred to the SIT for investigation are the subject matter of the FIR which is being probed by the Delhi Police special cell. Separate FIRs have been lodged against Zubair in Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, and Hathras districts on charges of allegedly hurting religious feelings, making sarcastic remarks on news anchors, disrespecting Hindu gods, and inflammatory posts.