Journalism of Courage
Premium
This is an archive article published on August 23, 2024
Apologise to AltNews co-founder for comment, Delhi HC tells X user
The court instructed that the apology post be put up within a week and be retained on his handle for another two months, to which the man agreed.
2 min read
In January 2023, police informed the court that they had not found Zubair committing any criminal act upon the completion of the investigation, and so, his name was not included in their chargesheet.
Dealing with a plea by AltNews co-founder Mohammad Zubair seeking quashing of an FIR registered against him under charges of the POCSO Act, the Delhi High Court Thursday directed an X (formerly Twitter) user to put out an apology on the social media platform, where he had called Zubair a ‘jihadi’.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani orally remarked, “We want people to be temperate on social media and if you get carried away, then the first thing you have to do is at least apologise… When you make a mistake on a platform, you apologise on the platform.”
The court instructed that the apology post be put up within a week and be retained on his handle for another two months, to which the man agreed.
In 2020, the Delhi Police had registered an FIR against Zubair for allegedly threatening a minor girl on the social media platform after he responded to the Twitter user, who was using a picture with his minor daughter as a display picture on the platform.
The FIR was lodged based on a complaint filed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).
In January 2023, police informed the court that they had not found Zubair committing any criminal act upon the completion of the investigation, and so, his name was not included in their chargesheet.
The NCPCR in its affidavit, had, however, opposed the police’s stand and said that it “indicates the casual attitude of police” in this case.
Story continues below this ad
In April 2024, police told the High Court that it had not registered any case against the man accused of allegedly posting “offensive tweets” against Zubair.
Police mentioned in their status report that they had examined the accused to inquire about his intention and purpose of commenting “Once a jihadi is always jihadi” on Zubair’s tweet.
On recording his statement, “nothing incriminating” came up for further proceedings in the matter, states the report.
Advertisement
Loading Taboola...
Live Blog
Top Stories
Advertisement