The Supreme Court on Friday granted five-day interim bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in a hate speech case registered against him in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh. However, he will continue to be in jail as he is in judicial custody in another case registered against him in Delhi as the top court made it clear that the interim bail order was not applicable to any other case, except the one registered at Sitapur.
The order came after senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing Zubair, submitted that it was a case of personal liberty of someone who simply pointed out how some religious leaders were saying Muslim women should be raped.During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Uttar Pradesh government, pointed out that he was in judicial custody in another case registered against him in Delhi. He also said Zubair deleted many of his tweets.A Sitapur court had on Thursday rejected his bail plea and sent him to police custody. He was being taken to Bengaluru when the top court was hearing the case. Now, he will have to surrender before a Delhi court which had sent him to judicial custody in another case.A Vacation Bench led by Justice Indira Banerjee -- which restrained Zubair from putting out any tweets -- said the interim bail order was subject to conditions imposed by the First Class Judicial Magistrate, Sitapur. It also asked him not to tamper with evidence.