Thread by @barandbench

Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair to be produced before Delhi's Patiala House Court today after completion of his police custody period.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Yesterday, Delhi High Court issued notice to Delhi Police on Zubair's plea challenging the order remanding him to police custody.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

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Zubair's was remanded to 4 days of police custody after being arrested in an alleged case of promoting enmity based on a tweet he put out in 2018.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

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Advocate Vrinda Grover to appear for Zubair. Special Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava to represent Delhi police.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

PP: We're seeking 14 days judicial custody.
Gorver: we are moving bail application. They have recovered devices.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

PP: We have added new provisions. He has formatted the phone.

Grover: The phone they have seized is I am using at present. The tweet is of 2018. It was a different device.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

PP: We have added 35 FCRA(Foreign Contribution Regulation Act),IPC 201 (destruction of evidence) and 120b (criminal conspiracy).

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate to hear the bail application of Mohammad Zubair in a short while.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Hearing begins

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: I'm playing on record an application whereby I'm placing thay the harddisk of device seized.. no hash value, no clone is generated by cyber crime. I have serious apprehensions...

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

PP now reads FCRA rules.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

PP: If you accept donation from even a person from another country it is a concern. As per CDR he received donations through Razor Pay from Pakistan, Syria, Australia, etc, which all things require investigation.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: The entire exercise is malafide nature and is a non prosecutable action of FIR. It all starts with a 2018. I'm summoned under subterfuge.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: Is it a crime to change SIM or phone? You can't cast aspersions on someone being clever. Why I am saying malafide is writ large

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: why im saying it is malafide is that FIR is June 20. A 41A notice is on June 24th... They then entice me and that 41A is made out.
#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: This is a phishing and roving inquiry and prohibited under law. That i have challenged in Delhi High Court
#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: This is the cyber cell. Four officers took him to Bangalore..not a single technical person. No hash value given. Look at the conduct. It cannot be believe it is not in the knowledge of the officer.
#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover now reads the seizure memo. They pick up a tax invoice of a phone i purchased in 2022. There is no embargo on purchasing two mobile phones. It is bewildering to me.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: Data's sanctity has to be protected. It can be manipulated... Till date hash value of the phone unconnected to this matter.. they haven't given me the hash value.
. Real likelihood of tampering which may take me to new sections.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover refers to 2018 tweet. Tweet says March 2018, Twitter for Android. It couldn't have been done from a laptop. There is a law. They can't wake up suddenly.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: Section 468 CRPC placed a bar for taking cognisance. The end of prosecution is not to harass someone and harm reputation.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: We are not living in a police state. They may demonstrate a prima facie case. I will submit to the law if it is. Your honour may see what are the facts of this case.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: My phone was snatched by someone on a bike. I lodged a complaint in 2021. This was the phone i was using in 2018. This is document is on record.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: Now to say I'm clever. I'll use whatever phone i want to use. They called me in a different matter in which you said no offence is made out against me.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover now reads the content of the tweet of the complainant.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: This is not an innocent investigation or a fair investigation. It is a malafide investigation from the point go.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: Complainant pulls out a 2018 tweet and had one follower. This account's tweet is on June 19 and the police files FIR on 20. Who is this Twitter handle? Do they want to create communal disharmony in the country? What is this mischief?

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: Indian Express published the same image in 2018. What is the image. It's a scene from Harish Mukherjee film.
#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: The film is available on Amazon Prime and trending courtesy Cypad.
#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Correction: Hrishikesh Mukherjee*

Grover narrates the film scene and says it is a completely innocent, comic scene made by a renowned director... For 40 years it created no disturbance and now an account with 1 follower puts the tweet.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: Blatant case of malafide. They have no prima facie case. It's a malicious prosecution. They know it.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover refers to S153A IPC: There have two be two groups... What are the two groups? This is not the Indian Indian Sentiments Hurt Code but Indian Penal Code. What are the two groups, the prosecution has failed to answer

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: There have two groups. There's not even one group.

Grover refers to Patricia Mukhim judgment.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover now refers to Amish Devgan judgement... Anybody can find what I say offensive but there has to be malicious intent to outrage religious feeling is punishable. There is no reference to any religion in that tweet.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: No aspersions can be cast on me for reformatting the phone. The phone they have taken i was not using in 2018. It was a lost article.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: Ye evidence nahi hai. 201 me jo destruction hai wo evidence ka hota hai. It is my private property not evidence. Saying I'm intelligent.. Bangalore is the cyber hub actually. It's good we have intelligent people.
#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: I'll expect the courts to protect the right of every citizen. They have put out a media update this morning about the payment on Razor Pay.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: Funds are going to a Section 8 company – Pravada Media. The foreign contribution is to a Section 8 company and not to me.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: 153A ki kahani kahatm ho gayi toh media me daal do ki Paisa le raha tha.. name some countries. I'm making a statement i was not taking the money. It was the company.
#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: i do hope there's some inquiry into this person tweeting and how it got picked. Who did I threaten?

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover on police seeking judicial custody: I'm not some terrorist that they need to secure my presence.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: Nobody else is being investigated. The idea was to trap me in a case which is a dead end.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: We cant make mockery of Arnesh Kumar... I would submit that Mohammad Zubair, a journalist and a fact checker, someone we should be proud of should be enlarged on bail.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

PP begins: This is the second bail application. In the first bail plea all issues have been raised. She has raised all these issues.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

PP: This has already been agitated. It should have been mentioned that this is second bail application.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

PP argues on power of arrest with the investigating officer and summoning under S41A CrPC. He refers to Arnesh Kumar saying basic purpose was to examine the grounds of arrest.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

PP: 41A compiled with. Court has given grounds for remand.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

PP: This is not a time barred case. It is a continuing offence. It was 2018 tweet which is still there. People in June also following.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

PP: we have not concluded investigation. We are still investigating. We may drop some offences or add some new offences. So to argue that nothing is made out, is not true.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

PP: There are other movies also where there are many vulgar things.
Grover: Please substantiate.
PP: Can we upload anything we want. There are many things.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

PP: Now the position is that we have arrested a person... Still there is time. We can again move for PC remand. Many things are yet to come.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

PP: Donation has come from Pakistan, Syria and we have mentioned all this in a CD also. He is the director of the company Pravada
Grover: Being director is not a crime in their country
PP: Driving isn't a crime, negligent driving is a crime #AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

PP: Deletion from phone after FIR is important.
Grover: Why I deleted when I was summoned in a different case... I can have as many phones. Are all these suspicious circumstances?.. These are not narcotic substances.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: Just because we say the names of a country, it becomes a suspicious circumstance. I have a brother living in Dubai. Can I speak to him during the pendency of the case?

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: Can submissions be made which have no foundation. It's a harmless clip. If we have lost any sense of humour then even penal code will not help us.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover: CBFC certificate is not record. You have a problem with the film sue CBFC. Unfortunately Hrishikesh Mukherjee is not there to defend himself.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Grover concludes.
PP refers to Zubar's tweet, says he intentionally said "Before 2014" and "After 2014". Why have you said this?

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Court: What investigation is left that you're saying PC could be required?
PP mentions names of countries and says kisse kisse paise liye wo niklenge. Agar aap paise lete hain paise from one foreign person also, agar aap registered media hain toh you have to take permission.

Court to pass orders post lunch.

#AltNews #MohammadZubair #DelhiPolice

Mohammed Zubair's lawyer advocate Soutik Banerjee says court is yet to pronounce order on Zubair's bail plea. Denies news circulating that bail has been rejected.

#MohammedZubair #AltNews

Zubair's lawyer says "it is extremely scandalous that even before Magistrate has sat and pronounced the order, the police has leaked to media. This calls for serious introspection."

#MohammedZubair #Altnews

Just In: Order on bail plea by Mohammed Zubair to be pronounced at 4 pm.

#MohammedZubair #AltNews #ZubairArrest #DelhiPolice

Order on bail/judicial remand still awaited.

#AltNews #MohammedZubair #DelhiPolice

BREAKING: Delhi Court denies bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair, sends him to 14 days of judicial custody.

#AltNews #MohammedZubair #DelhiPolice