Allahabad High Court Bench recuses from hearing Mohammed Zubair plea

A Bench of Justices Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Prashant Kumar of the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday recused from hearing a plea moved by Alt News journalist and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair seeking protection from arrest in a case filed by supporters of Yati Narsinghanand, the priest of Ghaziabad's Dasna Devi Temple..The Bench directed that the matter be placed before another bench.During the previous hearing, the officer investigating the matter had informed the Court that the offence of endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), has been included in the First Information Report (FIR) filed against Zubair..The FIR was lodged consequent to a complaint filed by supporters of Yati Narsinghanand, the priest of Ghaziabad's Dasna Devi Temple over a tweet Zubair had posted on X..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, there were protests 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.A complaint was lodged by Tyagi, blaming Zubair, Arshad Madani and Asaduddin Owaisi for violent protests at Dasna Devi Mandi.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 BNS.Subsequently, the offence under Section 152 of BNS was also added..Zubair then moved the High Court against the FIR, seeking protection from arrest.In his plea, Zubair has stated that he had posted on X to highlight Yati Narsinghanand's repeated communal remarks and derogatory comments about women and senior politicians.The FIR against him is a malicious attempt to prevent him from exposing Narsinghanand's criminal activities, Zubair has claimed.