Lakhimpur Kheri court rejects Mohd Zubair's bail plea in fact-check case

New Delhi, July 16: The sessions court of Uttar Pradesh's Mohammadi on Saturday rejected the bail plea of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in a case registered against him in September 2021, after a complaint was filed by a journalist of a news channel for a fact-check tweet.

Hearing on police custody remand will be held on July 20, confirmed Zubair's advocate Harjit Singh. It comes a day after Delhi's Patiala House Court granted him bail in a case related to an allegedly objectionable tweet,

Zubair's lawyer Harjeet Singh had earlier informed that the plaintiff had raised an objection regarding the bail plea filed in English, due to which the hearing (for the bail) was postponed. The Court sent him to judicial custody for 14-days on Monday. He was presented before the court through video conferencing from Sitapur Jail.

A warrant was issued against him in Lakhimpur Kheri's Mohammadi, in a September 2021 case filed by a Sudarshan News employee for a fact-check tweet.

One Ashish Kumar Katiyar lodged a case accusing Zubair of spreading false news on Twitter in order to disturb communal harmony and case was booked under Section 153-A (promoting enmity between two groups) of the Indian Penal Code, Indian Express reported.

The session court expected to hear his bail plea on July 13, which was postponed till today after the plaintiff raised an objection against the application from Zubair's end was filed in English.

On the other hand, the sessions court of Patiala House Court on Friday granted bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair in connection with the 2018 tweet case.

It said that the accused Zubair cannot leave the country without prior permission of the court while granting him bail on a personal bail bond of Rs 50, 000.