Shashwati Chowdhury
Published on: June 4, 2022 at 17:41 IST
In a case involving a “objectionable tweet” Zubair had posted in 2018 against a Hindu god, Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair was sent to 14 days of judicial custody, according to a Delhi Police official on Saturday. The court had dismissed Zubair’s bail plea.
However according to Zubair’s counsel Soutik Banerjee, no order has yet been pronounced. A senior police official who wished to remain anonymous said Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria allowed the plea for a 14-day remand.
Banerjee responded when asked about the order, “It is extremely scandalous and speaks of the present state of the rule of law in our country. Police leaked the order to the media even before the Judicial Magistrate had a chance to sit and pronounced it.”
When Zubair’s five-day custodial questioning period expired, the police brought him before the court and urged that he be sent to a 14-day judicial remand because they might require him for further custodial interrogation later.
Public prosecutor Atul Srivastava informed the court during the hearing that the police had invoked new provision against Zubair under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (destruction of evidence), and section 35 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.
He claimed that it needs to be further investigated because the accused accepted money through the Razorpay payment gateway from Pakistan, Syria, and other countries. Zubair filed the bail application before the court after the police application.