Hinduism is one of the oldest and most tolerant religions, while its followers are also tolerant, said a Delhi Court on Friday while granting bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in a case connected to a 2018 tweet.
“Hindu religion is one of the oldest religions and most tolerant. The followers of the Hindu religion are also tolerant. Hindu religion is so tolerant that its followers proudly name their institution/organization/facilities in the name of their Holy God or Goddess. A large number of Hindus proudly name their children in the name of their Holy God and Goddess,” said the judge in his order granting bail to Zubair.
“Therefore naming of an Institute, Facility or Organization or child in the name of Hindu Deity on the face of it, is not violative of Section 153A and 295A IPC unless the same is done with malice/guilty intention,” the order added.
The court also said that police have failed to record the statement under section 161 of CRPC of any other person who has felt offended by the tweet of the accused.
The judge further said that the voice of dissent is necessary for a healthy democracy and, hence, merely for the criticism of any political parties it is not justified to invoke sections 153A and 295A of the IPC.
“The applicant/accused is also stated to have used the words ‘Before 2014 and After 2014’ to point out towards a political party. In Indian democracy the political parties are open for their criticism. The political parties are not shying away from public to face the criticism of its policies. The voice of dissent is necessary for healthy democracy. Therefore, merely for the criticism of any political parties it is not justified to invoke section 153A and 295A IPC,” said the court.
The judge noted that in the present case, all the evidence is documentary in nature and Zubair has already been taken in police custody for five days and is now lodged in judicial custody, so no further interrogation is required.
“Recovery has already been effected, therefore, no useful purpose is going to be served by keeping the applicant/accused behind the bars,” the court noted while granting him bail.
Zubair was arrested in a case that the Delhi Police registered after receiving a complaint from a Twitter handle, wherein it was alleged that the accused had tweeted a questionable image with the purpose of deliberately insulting the god of a particular religion.
“Such tweets were getting retweeted and it appeared that there is a brigade of social media entities, who indulge in insult mongering thereby leading to a possible ramification on communal harmony and is overall against the maintenance of public tranquility,” the police said.
Zubair has also knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court, seeking quashing of all six FIRs lodged against him in UP that have been transferred to a special investigation team (SIT) as the subject matter of the probe is the same as the FIR registered by Delhi Police’s Special Cell.
The petition also prays that as an alternative, the FIRs may be clubbed with the FIR in Delhi where Zubair was first arrested, and seeks interim bail in all six cases.
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