Warrant issued against Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair in Lakhimpur Kheri

New Delhi, July 9: Lakhimpur Kheri police have obtained a fresh warrant against Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair in a case lodged at Mohammadi police station last year on charges of promoting enmity between two groups. It comes a day after Supreme Court granted interim bail to him in an FIR lodged at Sitapur by the Uttar Pradesh police for hurting religious sentiments.

The Lakhimpur Kheri court has summoned Zubair to appear before it on July 11. The fresh warrant is obtained against a case on him dating back to September 2021, after a complaint was 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.

On Friday, the Supreme Court granted interim relief to Mohammad Zubair in an FIR lodged at Sitapur by the Uttar Pradesh police for hurting religious sentiments.

A vacation bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari however ordered him not to leave the jurisdiction of the Sitapur magistrate's court and not post any fresh tweets on the issue related to the case.

When Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that the grant of interim bail would not lead to his release as he is in judicial custody owing to a Delhi court order, the SC said that this relief is applicable only to the Sitapur case and not any other pending case against Zubair.

An FIR was lodged against Zubair in Uttar Pradesh under IPC section 295A (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings) and section 67 of the IT Act here on a complaint by Hindu Sher Sena Sitapur district president Bhagwan Sharan on June 1. Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police on June 27 for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through one of his tweets, news agency PTI reported