LI Network
Published on: 06 January 2023 at 17:26 IST
Delhi High Court asked Delhi Police to place on record the chargesheet concerning an FIR in which Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair was booked for a 2020 tweet.
Delhi Police’s Cyber Cell Booked Mohd. Zubair under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act on a complaint from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) for allegedly “threatening and torturing a girl child through Twitter”.
Zubair reached Delhi HC seeking quashing of this FIR.
Zubair also sought action against NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo, who is the complainant in the case, and a Twitter user whom Zubair had responded to on Twitter.
As per NCPCR complaint had referred to a tweet shared by Zubair on August 6, 2020, which had the photo of a minor girl, with her face blurred out, during an online spat he was having with her relative, the Twitter user in question.
Zubair in his Plea submitted to the Delhi High Court that, “The petitioner merely shared the image of the (Twitter user) standing with a minor girl, whose face is pixelated and calling the (Twitter user) out on his foul, shameful and abusive behaviour on social media,”.
In the the Last order of High court in September 2020, the High Court had restrained the Delhi Police from taking any coercive action against Zubair.
NCPCR, in its reply affidavit, had stated that the act of retweeting the picture of a minor girl by Zubair “initiated the indecent and obnoxious” comments against her; it additionally contributed to disclosure of her identity through her father seriously, jeopardising her safety and security. “Retweeting the picture on his Twitter platform exposed the girl to harassment on a big social media platform wherein lewd and disgraceful comments were published by users,”.
Further, the comments made on the picture of the minor girl also included comments in the nature of sexual harassment and violative of the provisions under the POCSO, IPC and the IT Act, it claimed.
NCPCR further alleged in the Reply that despite knowing there were several comments made on his post against the girl, Zubair neither tried to delete the tweet nor did he inform the authorities concerned about the users who had made such comments.