Alt News journalist and fact-checker Mohammad Zubair has moved the Allahabad High Court seeking protection from arrest in a case filed by supporters of Yati Narsinghanand, the priest of Ghaziabad's Dasna Devi Temple, for promoting enmity.
The matter is likely to be heard on November 21 and is listed before a Bench of Justices Ashwini Kumar Mishra and Dr Gautam Chowdhary.
On September 29, Narsinghanand, who has been charged with hate speech on previous occasions, delivered a public speech in which he allegedly made remarks against Prophet Muhammad. Zubair posted a tweet on X calling the speech "derogatory and hateful".
Several first information reports (FIRs) were then registered against Narsinghanand in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana for inciting communal hatred and hurting religious sentiments. His aides claim that the was taken away by the cops, even as the Ghaziabad Police denies arresting him.
Subsequently, protests were carried out at the Dasna Devi Temple.
The FIR against Zubair stems from a complaint filed by Udita Tyagi, General Secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Foundation. Tyagi alleged that on October 3, Zubair shared an old video clip of Narsinghanand with the intent to incite violence against him.
"Again on 05.10.2024 itself, Dr. Udita Tyagi, a close aide of Yati Narsinghanand and the Mahasachiv of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust, filed a complaint with the Police Commissioner, Ghaziabad, blaming the Petitioner (Zubair), Arshad Madani and Asaduddin Owaisi for the acts of the miscreants at Dasna Devi Mandir," the plea states.
The Ghaziabad Police then charged Zubair under Sections 196 (promoting enmity on religious grounds), 228 (fabricating false evidence), 299 (outraging religious feelings by insulting religion or religious beliefs), 356(3) (defamation), and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
In his plea before the High Court, Zubair stated that he had posted on X to highlight Yati Narsinghanand's repeated communal remarks and derogatory comments about women and senior politicians.
He mentions that he also tagged the Uttar Pradesh Police, Ghaziabad Police and the DCP (City), Ghaziabad in his social media post, requesting legal action by the authorities.
The plea further alleges that the complainant admitted in a post on X that filing the FIR was a "publicity stunt" and even thanked a follower who praised the act.
Zubair further argues that the FIR against him is a malicious attempt to prevent him from exposing Yati Narsinghanand's criminal activities.
Notably, there is already a plea pending before the Allahabad High Court against Narsinghanand to restrain him from making remarks against Prophet Muhammad and the Holy Quran.
Narsinghanand has been booked for hate speech in the past.
He was arrested on January 16, 2022 after being accused of delivering a hate speech against Muslims at a Dharam Sansad event held at Haridwar.
His bail plea was rejected by a magistrate court, but a sessions court granted bail to him on February 7, 2022.
He was also booked in a case in which he was accused of making derogatory remarks against women. He had secured bail in that case too.
In 2023, the Supreme Court had issued notice to Narsinghanand in a contempt of court petition plea filed by activist Shachi Nelli against him for derogatory remarks made against the top court.