High Court Halts Arrest of Alt News' Zubair in Controversial Case

The Allahabad High Court has temporarily halted the arrest of Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of Alt News, in a case alleging he promoted enmity among religious groups. The complaint, filed by an associate of priest Yati Narsinghanand, accuses Zubair of sharing an edited video to incite violence.

The Allahabad High Court on Friday issued an order to halt the arrest of Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of Alt News, who is embroiled in a legal case concerning allegations of promoting religious enmity. The case stems from a complaint filed by an associate of the controversial priest Yati Narsinghanand.

The complaint, lodged by Udita Tyagi, general secretary of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust, claims that Zubair shared a video clip from an old program of Narsinghanand, allegedly intending to incite violence. The accusation suggests that Zubair's post edited Narsinghanand's remarks on Prophet Muhammad, describing them as incendiary.

Following the filed FIR, Zubair sought to quash it and prevent coercive measures. He argued that his post merely aimed to alert authorities to Narsinghanand's actions and should not be seen as inciting disharmony. Furthermore, he challenged the defamation claims, stating that sharing publicly available videos cannot constitute defamation.

(With inputs from agencies.)