Delhi court rejects Zubair's bail plea, sends him to 14-day judicial custody: police official; lawyer says no order yet

However, Zubairs lawyer Soutik Banerjee said no order has been pronounced yet.According to a senior police official who did not wish to be identified, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria allowed its plea for 14-day remand.Asked about the order, Banerjee said, It is extremely scandalous and it speaks of the status of rule of law in our country today.

A Delhi Police official on Saturday said a court here has dismissed the bail plea of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair and sent him to 14-day judicial custody in a case related to an ''objectionable tweet'' he had posted in 2018 against a Hindu deity. However, Zubair's lawyer Soutik Banerjee said no order has been pronounced yet.

According to a senior police official who did not wish to be identified, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria allowed its plea for 14-day remand.

Asked about the order, Banerjee said, ''It is extremely scandalous and it speaks of the status of rule of law in our country today. That even before the judicial magistrate has sat and pronounced the order, police has leaked the order to the media.'' The police produced Zubair before the court on expiry of his five-day custodial interrogation and urged it to send him to 14-day judicial remand, saying they might need his custodial interrogation later.

During the hearing, public prosecutor Atul Srivastava informed the court that the police has invoked new provisions -- sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code and section 35 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act -- against Zubair.

He claimed that the accused accepted money through Razorpay payment gateway from Pakistan, Syria and other countries, which requires further investigation.

After the police application, Zubair moved the bail application before the court.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)