NCPCR says police stand of no cognizable case against Zubair is “incorrect”

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Tuesday stated before the Delhi High Court that the submission of police that no cognizable offence was made out against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, in connection with an FIR over one of his tweets in August 2020, was “incorrect”.
The child rights body stated that the information provided by Delhi Police in its May status report clearly shows that Mr. Zubair has been trying to evade the investigation and was not fully cooperating.
“The mala fide intention of the petitioner to conceal the facts is evident which is seen to be causing a serious delay in the investigation of this case. The submission made by the Delhi Police as to no cognisable offence being made out against the petitioner is also incorrect and indicates the casual attitude of the police in this case,” NCPCR said in its affidavit.
Previously, defending his tweet, which is at the centre of the controversy, Mr. Zubair had said he “merely shared an image of Jagdish Singh standing with a minor girl whose face was pixelated and calling Jagdish Singh out on his foul, shameful and abusive behaviour on social media”.
Mr. Zubair had claimed that the FIR centred around a tweet he shared on August 6, 2020 where he called out one Jagdish Singh, who he alleged is a habitual Twitter troll, for being an abusive person on social media.
On his plea, the High Court had in September 2020 granted protection to the journalist against any coercive action from the police in connection with an FIR registered with Delhi Police Cyber Cell. The High Court had also sought response of NCPCR, on whose complaint the FIR was registered.
On August 9, 2020 the Delhi Police registered the FIR against Mr. Zubair for alleged offences under the Information Technology Act for allegedly threatening and torturing a girl child on Twitter on a complaint received from NCPCR.
The NCPCR complaint referred to the photo of a girl, whose face was pixilated, and her father shared by Mr. Zubair on Twitter during an online spat with the minor’s father.
NCPCR said retweeting the girl’s picture contributed to disclosure of her identity through her father and seriously jeopardised her safety and security and also exposed her to harassment on social media platforms like Twitter where lewd and disgraceful comments were published about her by the users.
“In view of the violations committed against the minor girl in the said case and the information provided by the Delhi Police in its status report dated May 14, 2022, the NCPCR requests this court to direct the Delhi Police to conduct a thorough investigation in this case and complete the same on priority,” NCPCR said.
The court will hear the case on December 7.