The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of Alt News, in connection with a 2018 tweet case. Zubair had sought the return of devices and documents seized by the Delhi Police, arguing that they were unrelated to the allegations mentioned in the FIR.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma closed the petition and directed Zubair to approach the relevant magistrate with an appropriate application to seek the desired relief.

Advocate Soutik Banerjee, representing Zubair, requested an adjournment, while the counsel for Delhi Police stated that the matter had become redundant. The plea, filed in 2022, included a prayer challenging Zubair’s four-day police custody remand, which the Court was informed had already become infructuous.

Justice Sharma noted that the petition did not specify which device or document was allegedly seized by the Delhi Police that was beyond the scope of the FIR. In response, Advocate Banerjee clarified that the reference was to the seizure of Zubair's mobile phone. In light of this, the Court issued the following order:

“He may move an appropriate application before the concerned area magistrate. Disposed of.”

Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police in June 2022 on charges of hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity through a tweet posted in 2018. He was granted bail by the sessions court on July 15, 2022.

Zubair was initially arrested under Section 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, etc.) and Section 295 (Injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) of the Indian Penal Code. Subsequently, Section 295A, along with Sections 201 (Causing disappearance of evidence) and 120B (Criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 35 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, were invoked against him.

According to the Delhi Police, the case was registered following a complaint from a Twitter handle, which alleged that Zubair had posted a "questionable image with the intent to deliberately insult the god of a particular religion."

The FIR stated that Zubair’s 2018 tweet, which referred to the renaming of a 'Honeymoon Hotel' after the Hindu god Hanuman, was an insult to the religion. It further alleged that the words and image used by Zubair were highly provocative and had the potential to incite hatred, which could be harmful to public tranquillity and societal harmony.