Supreme Court notice to Centre on plea of mothers of Rohith Vemula, Payal Tadvi
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a plea filed by mothers of Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi, who had allegedly committed suicide following alleged caste-based discrimination, seeking to end such bias in universities and other higher education institutions across the country.
While Vemula, a Ph.D scholar at Hyderabad Central University had committed suicide on January 17, 2016, following alleged caste bias, Tadvi, a tribal student at TN Topiwala National Medical College, committed suicide on May 22 this year due to alleged caste-based discrimination by three doctors in her college.
A bench of Justices N V Ramana and Ajay Rastogi issued notice on the plea and sought response from the Centre in four weeks. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for both the mothers, said there are UGC regulations but they are not being implemented.
She said there are documented incidents of suicides taking place in university campuses.
The petitioners have sought to enforce the fundamental rights, particularly the Right to Equality, Right to Prohibition of Discrimination against caste, and the Right to Life.
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Mohd Zubair files police complaint over doxxing, death threats, communal targeting on social media
Bengaluru: Noted fact-checker and Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair has filed a formal police complaint with the Deputy Commissioner of Police (East), Bengaluru, seeking urgent action against social media users who have allegedly disclosed his residential address, phone number, and other personal details online. The complaint also accuses them of issuing veiled threats, inciting mob violence, and targeting him on communal grounds.
Zubair, known for debunking fake news and misinformation, stated in his complaint that he has been subjected to repeated online abuse and threats due to his work. He particularly highlighted a tweet by the handle @Cyber\_Huntss, posted on May 12, 2025, at 12:27 PM, which suggested delivering pork to Zubair’s house, an act clearly intended to insult his religious identity. Though the tweet was later deleted, Zubair has submitted screenshots along with the archived version of the tweet in the complaint.
In addition to this, Zubair named two other users, @AmirLadka and @nationfirst1223, who allegedly posted images containing his PAN card number, phone number, and address, further amplifying the threat to his personal safety. Screenshots of these tweets have also been attached to the complaint. The tweets were reportedly accompanied by comments encouraging others to save the information before it was deleted, implying a deliberate and coordinated act of doxxing.
“This is the second time such an incident has taken place,” Zubair wrote in his complaint, recalling a similar episode in April 2023 where he had previously reported @Cyber\_Huntss for sharing his personal address along with communally charged language. That earlier complaint was acknowledged by the police (Reference No: 527/2023) but was eventually closed with a 'C Report', which Zubair terms as unjustified.
The current complaint argues that the recent leaks of personal information are not isolated incidents but part of a sustained campaign to incite violence against him. He stated that his Muslim identity has been specifically targeted, pointing to the references to pork, an item forbidden in Islam and called the attacks part of a larger pattern of communal intimidation.
Zubair urged the authorities to register an FIR under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including Sections 196, 197(d), 351, 352, 353 and Section 66E of the Information Technology Act, 200. He also requested police protection for himself and his family, citing serious concerns for their safety.
In a parallel post on X (formerly Twitter), Zubair wrote, "People have leaked my home address and mobile number and have threatened to send pork to my address. There are already life threats against me. This isn't the first time. The same person in 2023 had sent pork to my address and shared the shipping address on Twitter. I have filed a complaint before @DCPEASTBCP. Trust that @CPBlr @DgpKarnataka takes this threat seriously at least this time. Last time when I filed a complaint, the FIR was closed after a few months." Zubair also tagged CM Siddaramaiah and DCM DK Shivakumar in his X post.
People have leaked my home address and Mobile Number and have threatened to send Pork to my address. There are already life threats against me. This isn't the first time. The same person in 2023 had sent Pork to my address and shared the shipping address on Twitter. I am have… pic.twitter.com/GJAhrWuCBg
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) May 12, 2025
Here are the tweets by right wing sharing my personal address and Mobile number. There's a threat to me and my family staying at that address. pic.twitter.com/MU0HYNhfnJ
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) May 12, 2025
Here's one more Online threat to... pic.twitter.com/KdtvjRrFwW
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) May 12, 2025
Zubair concluded his complaint by warning that failure to take timely action would not only put his life in danger but also embolden perpetrators and create a chilling effect on other journalists and fact-checkers working to counter misinformation.
