Alleged Fact-checker cum fact-twister, Mohammad Zubair came out of jail after 24 days on Wednesday. After getting interim bail from the Supreme Court, the way for his release was cleared. In the case of objectionable post on social media, Zubair took trouble. Something similar happened with Marathi actress Ketki Chitale. However, she had to stay behind the bars for 40 days.

  • Ketki Chitale allegedly made objectionable post against Sharad Pawar
  • Marathi actress had to stay behind bars for about 40 days
  • Zubair got relief on Wednesday, was released from jail just after 24 days inspite of peddling continous hate through social media

Alt News co-founder and dubious fact-checker (read – self-declared fact checker who was more interested in fact-twisting and conning people) Mohammad Zubair has come out of Delhi’s Tihar Jail. The Supreme Court had approved his bail on Wednesday. Inspite of some serious charges, just after 24 days, Zubair came out from behind the bars. In all the 6 cases registered in Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail. Ketaki Chitale started being discussed on social media as soon as Zubair got bail. Ketki Chitale is a Marathi actress. Ketki was arrested in connection with an allegedly objectionable post on social media against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar. More than 20 FIRs were registered against Chitale in the case. The police had arrested her on 15 May. She was behind bars for about 40 days.

The Supreme Court made several important observations while giving interim relief to Zubair. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice Surya Kant and Justice A. S. Bopanna said that the power of arrest should be exercised very sparingly. According to the top court, it does not see any justification for depriving Zubair of his freedom. The court transferred all the cases registered against Zubair in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi. The bench also rejected the demand of the Uttar Pradesh government to restrain Zubair from tweeting. Asked whether a lawyer can be prevented from arguing in the court. The hearing in the case lasted for more than two hours.

The bench said that how can a journalist be stopped from tweeting and writing? If he violates any law by tweeting, then action can be taken against him as per law. In fact, Uttar Pradesh Additional Advocate General Garima Prasad had said before the bench that Zubair should not tweet after getting interim bail from the court. He also argued that Zubair has been getting paid for the tweets. The more malicious the tweet, the more they got paid. Zubair got around Rs 2 crore and he is not a journalist. Zubair’s lawyer, Vrinda Grover, termed the cases as a well-planned conspiracy to suppress dissent.

A total of seven FIRs are registered against Zubair in UP. Two in Hathras and one each have been registered at Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad and Chandauli police stations. Zubair was arrested by Delhi Police on June 27 for hurting religious sentiments through tweets. Several FIRs have also been registered against the co-founder of Alt News in Uttar Pradesh on the same charges.

Something Similar to Ketki’s Case

Ketki’s case is also similar to that of Zubair. Her throat was also grabbed due to posting on social media. Ketki was arrested for posting allegedly against Sharad Pawar. It is another matter that unlike Zubair, the road to his release was long. Ketki had to stay behind the bars of the jail for about 40 days. In her post, it was deemed that the actress had targeted the NCP chief in gestures. In this post, Ketki had allegedly called Sharad Pawar a liar, suffering from cancer due to corruption and going to hell. The Facebook post that troubled the actress had a poem written by a lawyer named Nitin Bhave. Only Sharad Pawar’s surname was used in this post. Along with this, there was also mention of the physical ailments from which the NCP supremo is suffering.

After this, the 30-year-old actress was accused of defamation and promoting enmity between several groups on the basis of religion and caste. She landed in legal trouble after another case was registered against Chitale under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act. She had filed a petition in the Bombay High Court. In this, she had termed the action of Kalwa police as illegal.

Different stand of courts on bail

The Supreme Court has repeatedly talked about keeping a soft stance in the matter of bail. The trend has been reversed in the lower courts. Recently, the Supreme Court made an important comment regarding bail. A bench of Justice SK Kaul and Justice MM Sundaresh had pointed out the dire need to reform the laws related to bail. The bench had asked the government to consider making a separate law on the lines of Britain. In 1977, the highest court of the country gave an important arrangement regarding bail. It is often mentioned. He had said that bail should be the rule and jail the exception. The stand of the lower courts has been quite the opposite. The bench observed that the attitude of the courts in refusing to grant bail has boosted the morale of the investigating agencies. Agencies have made it a weapon of punishment. The tug of war between the power to arrest and the right to freedom has been an old one.

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