Apologise to Mohammad Zubair for offensive comment: Delhi HC directs 'X' user
New Delhi, Aug 22: The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed an 'X' user to apologise to Alt-News co-founder Mohammad Zubair for his "offensive" comment against him on the social media platform.
Observing that people should be temperate on the social media and apologise if they get "carried away", Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani asked the user to publish his apology on his handle on 'X', formerly called 'Twitter', in one week while "giving context of the offensive tweet" and retain the post for two months.
The court, which was dealing with Zubair's petition to quash an FIR registered against him following his online spat with this social media user, noted that the user has expressed regret before the city police for calling the petitioner "offensive communal names" and claimed that there was no malice to hurt or offend Zubair.
"He has chosen the unfortunate words. Let him put it (apology) out on his Twitter handle...We want people to be temperate on social media and if you get carried away then first thing you have to do is at least apologise," Justice Bhambhani said.
"If he has expressed regret and said 'niyat nahi thi', let him atone for that," he added.
In 2020, the Delhi Police had registered the FIR against Zubair for allegedly threatening and torturing a girl child on the social media platform after he responded to the Twitter user who was using a picture with his minor daughter as a display picture on the platform.
Zubair described the allegation levelled against him in the FIR as "an absolutely frivolous complaint".
Subsequently, while the police closed the case against Zubair, the court directed the investigating agency to state what action it took against the Twitter user for his offensive tweet, which amounted to hate speech", against the journalist.
During the hearing, the counsel for the police said the investigating officer found "no real basis" to register a case against the user in light of his statement and has left the matter to court.
The user told the police in his statement that he has respect for all religions and he has good relations with members of all religious communities.
The court perused certain other posts made by the user and said "this type of person should be barred from social media".
It, however, considered his statement expressing regret made to the police and closed the proceedings in the case.
"When you make a mistake on a platform, you apologise on the platform. I am trying to put a twitter war to end," the court stated, adding that "social media was an anarchic medium" and Zubair will not retweet the apology or use it to sue the user over the offensive tweet.
The high court had in September 2020 directed the Delhi Police not to take any coercive steps against Zubair in the case.
It had also directed Twitter India to cooperate with the police in the investigation of the matter.
The NCPCR has earlier contended before the high court that the submission of the city police that no cognisable offence was made out against Zubair was "incorrect" and that the agency's stand indicates the casual attitude of the authorities.
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Austrian police detain suspect in case of rat poison found in baby food jars on supermarket shelves
Vienna (AP): Police in eastern Austria say a 39-year-old suspect has been arrested after rat poison turned up in some HiPP baby food jars on supermarket shelves in central Europe.
HiPP, which recalled some of its baby food jars in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic after the case came to light last month, said in a statement Saturday it was “greatly relieved” by the arrest, and would provide further updates as verified details come in.
The Burgenland State Criminal Police Office, under the direction of prosecutors, said a probe was launched after poison turned up in a baby food jar purchased at a supermarket in the city of Eisenstadt on April 18.
It said the suspect was being questioned, and that no further details would be immediately provided. The Burgenland public prosecutor's office has announced an investigation into suspected “intentional endangerment of the public.”
The Austrian Press Agency reported that an expert report on the toxicity of the poison was pending. A total of five tampered baby food jars were seized before they could be consumed, APA reported.
Authorities said previously they believe the tampering occurred in 190-gram (6.7-ounce) jars of baby food made with carrots and potatoes for 5-month-olds that were sold from SPAR supermarkets in Austria.
HiPP responded by recalling all of its baby food jars sold at SPAR supermarkets — which include SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores — in Austria as a precaution. Vendors in Slovakia and the Czech Republic also removed all of the brand's baby jars from sale.
The company said the recall was not due to any product or quality defect on its part, and said the jars left its facility in “perfect condition.”
Police said a customer at the time of the discovery had reported that a jar appeared to have been tampered with, but no one had consumed the baby food.
