A Delhi Court on Friday granted bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in the case where he was arrested over a four-year-old tweet. Zubair has been granted bail on furnishing a Rs 50,000 bail bond and he has been barred from leaving the country without permission.
However, even though Zubair is free from Tihar Jail in Delhi, he will remain in the custody of UP police since he has been arrested and remanded to judicial custody in two of the six FIRs registered against him in the state.
The order in this case is awaited.
The 41-year-old fact checker was arrested on June 27, after an anonymous Twitter account with one follower at the time tagged Delhi Police over a 2018 tweet by Zubair which showed a film still from Hrishikesh Mukherjee's 1983 movie Kissi Se Na Kehna.
The Delhi Court's orders came on Zubair's plea seeking bail. Earlier this month, a magistrate's court denied Zubair bail and remanded him to 14 days of judicial custody.
On Thursday, while hearing arguments on bail, the Delhi Court had asked Delhi Police if it had recorded statements of any user who was offended by Zubair's 2018 tweet.
"Have you recorded the statement of the person (who filed the complaint)? Abhi tak aapne statement hee nahi likhi hai? (you still haven't taken the statement) How many statements have you recorded? How many persons felt offended by this?", Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala had said.
When the Delhi Police counsel Special Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava said that the tweet was shared 529 times, the judge pointed out that it wasn't the same as taking offence. "You can't go by tweets. You have to go by CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973). There is a procedure. You have to record statements of people," the judge added.
For the first time since the proceedings in this case began, a judge, at Grover's instance, watched the 26-second clip from the 1983 movie which inspired Zubair's tweet.
Also Read: Supreme Court Grants Interim Bail to Mohammed Zubair, Bar on Tweeting
Haven't taken foreign funds: Zubair
Grover told the court that Zubair has not taken any foreign funds as alleged by Delhi Police. The payment gateway issued a statement saying that only domestic donations have been activated, Grover said referring to Razorpay's public statement issued in the aftermath of this controversy.
Grover said the charges under section 35 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 which is a blanket provision for any violation under the Act, did not apply in Zubair's case. "I am making a self-declaration that Pravda Media (parent company of AltNews) is registered as a company. I don't have FCRA (license) and that's why we can't have foreign contribution. There is a disclaimer that we accept only Indian money," Grover argued.
I am barred by law from taking any foreign currency. When one wants to donate (to Alt News), my first question is – are you an Indian donor? Grover told the court.
"If I am an Indian citizen with an Indian bank account and living abroad, I may have a different IP address. I may be on deputation. Indian engineers are in demand everywhere. I may be on deputation in Nokia, Google... There may be an IP address of foreign (origin). If you're reading that, then you're misreading. That's wrong," Grover explained.
Also Read: Delhi Court Denies Bail To AltNews Co-Founder Mohammed Zubair
If released, gumnaam will remain gumnaam: Delhi Police
Delhi Police opposed Zubair's bail plea on the grounds that if he is released the anonymous people who allegedly gave him funds will remain anonymous. Shrivastava alleged that Zubair received 56 lakhs through Razorpay, the payment gateway.
"There is someone a 'gumnaam' (anonymous) from whom he (Zubair) has accepted money. He will remain gumnaam," Special Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava argued.
Shrivastava argued that the 2018 tweet in question was not a joke as argued by Zubair. It was a planned tweet meant to incite reactions. He said that Zubair was luring people of foreign nationalities through such sensational tweets.
Also Read: The Mystery Of The Twitter Handle That Led To Mohammed Zubair's Arrest