Allahabad HC bench recuses from hearing Mohammed Zubair's plea against FIR over 'X' post
Prayagraj: Allahabad High Court Justices Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Prashant Kumar recused themselves on Tuesday from hearing a petition filed by fact-checker Mohammed Zubair. The plea challenges an FIR lodged by the Ghaziabad Police, alleging that Zubair promoted enmity among religious groups through a post on X (formerly Twitter).
The FIR, filed by Udita Tyagi, General Secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust, accuses Zubair of sharing edited clips of controversial priest Yati Narsinghanand's past programme on October 3, purportedly to provoke violence by Muslims against the priest. The complaint also claims that Zubair’s post, which referred to Narsinghanand's remarks as derogatory, aimed to incite radical sentiments.
Zubair has been booked under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including s.196 (promoting enmity between groups), s.228 (fabricating false evidence), s.299 (outraging religious feelings), s.351(2) (criminal intimidation), and s.356(3) (defamation). Additionally, s.152 of the BNS, which criminalises actions endangering India's sovereignty, unity, and integrity, has been invoked.
In his petition, Zubair denied any intent to incite violence, stating that his post merely highlighted Narsinghanand's speech and sought police action in accordance with the law. He argued that sharing public-domain videos of the priest does not constitute defamation or promote disharmony. Zubair also noted that Narsinghanand’s alleged remarks violated bail conditions from a prior hate speech case, which prohibited him from making statements promoting communal disharmony.
The court, which recused itself within 20 minutes of the hearing, directed that the matter be listed before another bench. A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking to restrain Narsinghanand from making derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad and the Qur'an is also pending before the High Court.
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Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 100th Saudi Pro League goal
Riyadh (AP): Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th Saudi Pro League goal as Al-Nassr beat Al-Shabab 4-2 to move five points clear at the top of the table.
The 41-year-old forward converted a Sadio Mané cross at the near post with 15 minutes remaining to record the 971st goal of his career on Thursday. It was also his 26th league goal of the season.
“Ronaldo is always dangerous going forward and we saw that again today,” Al-Nassr coach Jorge Jesus said.
João Félix, signed from Chelsea in July, scored three goals for the league leaders.
The win took Al-Nassr to 82 points from 32 games, five ahead of Al-Hilal, which has three matches, one more than Nassr, left to play. Al-Hilal meets Al-Kholood on Friday and faces Nassr on Tuesday in what could be a title decider against its Riyadh rival.
“Now we have a derby match against our rival, which is a difficult encounter,” Jesus said.
“We are fully aware of its importance, and we are dealing with it with complete focus as we know that small details could decide the result.”
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d'Or winner, has yet to secure a major trophy in Saudi Arabia since signing with Al-Nassr in December 2022.
