Delhi Police informs High Court: No case filed against ‘X’ user for ‘objectionable’ post against Mohd Zubair

New Delhi: The Delhi police has told the Delhi High Court that they have not registered any case against a ‘X’ user for his “objectionable” post against Mohammad Zubair, co-founder of Alt News.

This update came as part of proceedings on Zubair’s petition to quash an FIR filed against him after an online altercation with the same ‘X’ user. In May last year, the court asked the police to report on any action taken against the other party for posts that appeared to be “evidently offensive” and potentially amounting to hate speech.

In their status report, the Delhi Police noted that the tweet from the ‘X’ user did not “cause fear or alarm” among the public or any specific segment of the public, nor did it incite anyone to commit an offence against any state or disturb public tranquillity.

The investigating agency said it examined the user in order to enquire about his “intention and purpose” behind writing the comment in question. “That in view of above, no case has been registered in relation to the captioned tweet against the complainant (the ‘X’ user),” the status report said.

In 2020, the Delhi Police had registered an FIR against Zubair for offences under the Information Technology Act for allegedly threatening and torturing a girl child on the social media platform after he responded to the ‘X’ user who was using a photograph with his minor daughter as display picture.

In 2020, the Delhi police filed an FIR against Zubair under the Information Technology Act, alleging he threatened and harassed a child on social media after responding to a ‘X’ user who used a photo with his minor daughter as a profile picture.

Zubair’s lawyer claimed that the ‘X’ user had been trolling Zubair on the platform, using abusive language and posting communally charged comments.

When Zubair later posted the ‘X’ user’s profile picture—with the daughter’s face blurred—the user lodged a complaint against him.

Though the police had previously stated that there was no criminality found against Zubair in the case and his name was not included in the charge sheet, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani requested a status report on any action taken against the person who had posted the offensive tweet against Zubair.

“The question that arose on earlier dates, and which continues to survive however, is as to what action has been taken by the State in relation to the evidently offensive posts made by respondent No. 3 (the user), which may amount to ‘hate speech’, which posts were the genesis of the matter,” the court had said in its order passed on May 26 last year.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had previously contended to the high court that the police’s statement claiming that no cognisable offence was made against Zubair was “incorrect” and indicated a casual approach by the authorities.

In September 2020, the high court directed the Delhi police to refrain from taking coercive measures against Zubair in the case.

The court also instructed ‘X’ India to assist the police with their investigation.

Zubair has dismissed the allegations in the FIR as “absolutely frivolous.”