Khushi Bajpai
Published on: September 8, 2022 at 20:44 IST
The Supreme Court, observed that a petition under Section 482 of the CrPC can be moved by Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of Alt News, before the Delhi High Court seeking quashing of a case instituted against him initially at Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh and later transformed to Delhi, as per the directions of the apex court.
‘In terms of liberty which was granted in order dated 20.07.2022, petitioner would be able to pursue his rights and remedies… before Delhi high court.”
At the request of advocate, Ms. Brinda Grover, appearing on behalf of Zubair, a Bench comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hima Kohli recorded in the order that the questioning petition as and when filed before the Delhi High Court shall be considered without being influenced by the order of the Allahabad High Court refusing to quash the concerned FIR.
In such an event, the petition under Section 482 shall be considered on its own merit without the order of Allahabad High Court standing in the way.
The apex court had on July 8, 2022, granted Zubair interim bail in the Sitapur FIR, and on July 13, extended the interim bail in the Sitapur case until further orders.
On July 15, the Patiala House Court granted him regular bail in the Delhi Police FIR.
On July 18, the apex court had directed the Uttar Pradesh Police to not take any precipitative action against Zubair in connection with the 5 FIRs registered against him in Lakhimpur Kheri, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, and two at Hathras districts over his tweets till July 20.
By an order dated July 20, 2022, the apex court had transferred all the UP FIRs, including the one registered at Sitapur to Delhi.