Retweeting of minor’s photo is identity disclosure: NCPR opposed Mohammad Zubair’s plea

New Delhi, Oct 11: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights opposed a plea by AltNews co-founder Mohammad Zubair to quash the FIR against him in the POSCO case in the Delhi High Court.

The commission pointed out that Zubair has neither deleted the objectionable tweet about the minor girl not has he informed the concerned authorities about the users indulging in sexual harassment of the minor girl.

Based on the status report filed by the Delhi Police, the commission said that it clearly shows Zubair was trying to evade the investigation and did not cooperate with the police. His mala fide intention to conceal facts was evident, the commission added.

The NCPCR also questioned the submissions of the Delhi Police where it had said that there was no cognisable offence made out against Zubair. This indicates the casual behaviour of the police in the matter as retweeting a photo of a minor girl contributed to the disclosure of her identity due to which she was exposed to sexual harassment online.

On August 7, Zubair had indulged in an online spat with another user, Jagdish Singh. Zubair targeted a minor girl in the fight. Instead of replying to the user directly, he referred to a minor girl seen in the profile picture of Singh, presumably his granddaughter.

Following this several Islamists began issuing rape threats to the girl. Zubair was heavily panned for brining in a child to get back at a critic. The child rights commission had taken cognisance of the matter and initiated action.

Subsequently FIRs were filed against Zubair for online harassment of a girl child. While the Delhi did not invoke the stringent POSCO Act, but in a second FIR filed in Chhattisgarh, the provision was added.

The Delhi Police on May 20 2022 informed the Delhi High Court that the tweet by Zubair did not constitute any cognisable offence. The matter would be heard next later today.