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Mohammed Zubair vs. State of NCT of Delhi & Ors.

Writ Petition (Criminal) · 2022 INSC 736Decided 20 Jul 2022
Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 279 of 2022
Surya Kant · Chandrachud

Background

Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of the fact-checking portal ALT News, was arrested in June 2022 under an FIR registered by the Delhi Police Special Cell over certain tweets, and though he was later granted regular bail by a Delhi trial court, a series of at least seven other FIRs had been filed against him across different states (Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere) over the same or related tweets. He approached the Supreme Court under Article 32 apprehending that this multiplicity of FIRs, filed in different jurisdictions, was being used to keep him in continuous custody despite bail being granted in individual cases.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined the pattern of FIRs and found force in the concern that scattering near-identical complaints across multiple states could be used to negate the effect of bail. It ordered that the investigation of the Uttar Pradesh FIRs be transferred to the Delhi Police Special Cell (disbanding the separately constituted UP SIT), continued Zubair's bail, and directed that these protections would automatically extend to any future FIR registered against him on the same subject matter, while leaving him free to separately challenge any of the FIRs before the Delhi High Court on their merits.

Lesson Learnt

The Supreme Court will step in under Article 32 to prevent the criminal process from being weaponised through a multiplicity of FIRs across jurisdictions on the same set of facts, ensuring that a grant of bail is not rendered meaningless by fresh, duplicative prosecutions.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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