The Delhi High Court Thursday asked the Delhi Police to file a further status report on the investigation carried out so far in a case registered by it against AltNews co-founder Mohammad Zubair in August 2020 in connection with a tweet. Justice Mukta Gupta listed Zubair’s petition, seeking quashing of the FIR and a stay on any coercive action against him, for hearing on May 17. On September 9, 2020, the court had restrained police from taking any coercive action against Zubair. The court Thursday said that the interim protection will continue. A case had been registered against Zubair by Delhi Police in August 2020 on a complaint by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Priyank Kanoongo. The 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 father. Following Twitter’s refusal to take down Zubair’s post, the NCPCR last year had approached the High Court seeking removal of the tweet, while alleging that it was in violation of various laws. In the affidavit before the court, the NCPCR also said that police has informed it that a Kalandra under Section 175 IPC was filed before the Patiala House Court on February 17, 2021, against Twitter for not providing the information sought despite repeated reminders. While declining to take down the post, Twitter had informed the Commission that the image of the child in the post is pixelated or blurred.
