Mohammed Zubair booked for endangering sovereignty, unity of India: Allahabad High Court told

The officer investigating the case involving Mohammed Zubair has informed the Allahabad High 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 Alt News journalist..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.Zubair had moved the High Court against the FIR, seeking protection from arrest..On November 25, the High Court directed the investigating officer (IO) to file an affidavit by the next hearing, clearly specifying the penal sections under which Zubair has been implicated.In a reply submitted by the IO to the Court today, it was stated that two new sections had been added to the FIR: Section 66 of the Information Technology Act and Section 152 of the BNS.The Court permitted the amendment and scheduled the next hearing on December 3..Whoever, purposely or knowingly, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or by electronic communication or by use of financial mean, or otherwise, excites or attempts to excite, secession or armed rebellion or subversive activities, or encourages feelings of separatist activities or endangers sovereignty or unity and integrity of India; or indulges in or commits any such act shall be punished with imprisonment for life or with imprisonment which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fineSection 152 BNS.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, protests were carried out 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 then lodged by Dr. Udita Tyagi, a close aide of Yati Narsinghanand, 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..In his plea before the High Court, 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 plea further alleges that the complainant admitted in a post on X that filing the FIR was a "publicity stunt" and even thanked a follower who praised the act.The FIR against him is a malicious attempt to prevent him from exposing Yati Narsinghanand's criminal activities, Zubair has claimed.