Supreme Court orders release of Mohammed Zubair on interim bail in all UP cases

"It is a well-established legal concept that the power of arrest should be used sparingly. There is no basis in this situation to keep him in jail and subject him to an interminable loop of litigation in numerous courts," SC said.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in all allegations against him on Monday and ordered his immediate release from detention. The order was issued by a Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant, and AS Bopanna, who noted that Zubair had previously been granted bail by the Patiala House Court in a similar case filed by the Delhi Police. The Court stated that there is no rationale for Zubair's extended arrest, especially given the charges in the UP FIRs are similar to those in the Delhi Police FIR.

"On all FIRs, we believe he should be freed on temporary bail. It is a well-established legal concept that the power of arrest should be used sparingly. There is no basis in this situation to keep him in jail and subject him to an interminable loop of litigation in numerous courts," according to the Supreme Court.

Zubair had petitioned the Supreme Court to have the six FIRs filed against him by the UP Police dismissed. Six cases have been filed against Zubair in Hathras, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, Lakhimpur Kheri, and Sitapur.

Surprisingly, the Court ordered Zubair to be released on temporary bail in any future FIR filed against him on the same charge. The Supreme Court had already granted him temporary bail in a FIR filed in Sitapur. Following that, the UP Police took action against him in 5 additional FIRs, causing Zubair to petition the Supreme Court for the quashing of all six FIRs.

The cases against Zubair in Sitapur and Lakhimpur Kheri are for tweets made by the fact checker. The Uttar Pradesh government had also formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the six cases registered against Zubair in various districts of the State.