NGO expresses concern over arrest of Zubair, demands probe into disclosure of bail order before pronouncement

NGO 'Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms' on Tuesday expressed its shock and deep concern over the manner in which the Delhi Police has filed "questionable charges" against Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of Alt News and arrested him, based on a 2018 tweet that "merely involved remarks on a screenshot from an old Hindi film".

CJAR is shocked at the manner in which the Delhi Police revealed the contents of the order in the ongoing case of Zubair’s bail, to the media, more than five hours prior to the order being pronounced on July 2, it said, demanding a probe into the episode.

"Around 2 pm, messages were broadcast by media organisations that Zubair had been denied bail and he had been sent to 14 days of judicial custody. In reality, as of 2 pm the judge had reserved the order and was yet to return to preside over the bench," it claimed.

In a statement, the NGO, having patrons of Shanti Bhushan, Prof B B Pande, Bhaskar Rao, Arundhati Roy among others, said "it is most shocking that several hours later when the bench actually assembled and the order was pronounced, it was exactly what the police had announced earlier - denial of bail and 14 days judicial custody".

Also Read: Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair denied bail, sent to 14-day judicial custody

"This incident raises serious questions about the circumstances leading up to the pronouncement of the order and the interference of the Delhi Police in the judicial process. It appears that the Delhi Police and the magistrate had a prior backdoor agreement outside of court as to the nature of the order that was to be pronounced," it alleged.

"We believe strict action must be taken against officials responsible for this. To reinforce the faith of the public in the judiciary and constitutional governance, the communication between the police and the judge and the perceived influence of the police over the judicial process, needs a thorough independent probe, that must be conducted forthwith by the Delhi High Court," it demanded.

The NGO further expressed its concern that Zubair has now been remanded to 14 days judicial custody, based on an FIR filed on June 1 by the Sitapur District Police in Uttar Pradesh for reportedly calling three Hindutva leaders as ‘hate mongers’.

In both instances the Delhi and UP Police have been inappropriately invoking the law to persecute a fact-checker. We demand that the constitutional right to liberty of Zubair be upheld and the ill-conceived charges against him be dropped immediately by the Delhi and UP Police, it said.