New Delhi, July 20: The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in the six FIRs registered against him by the Uttar Pradesh Police.

A bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said: "There is no reason for deprivation of liberty of the petitioner...to be released on interim bail in each FIR (UP FIRs)...power of arrest should be used sparingly..." ‘Hindu Religion Most Tolerant’: Delhi Court Grants Bail to Alt News Co-Founder Mohammed Zubair

The bench said SIT constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government, to investigate the UP FIRs, is rendered redundant and is disbanded.

It added that Zubair can move the Delhi High Court for quashing of the FIRs.

During the hearing, senior advocate Garima Prasad, representing the UP government, argued that Zubair gets paid for the tweets and the more malicious the tweets, the more payment he gets. The counsel added that Zubair had got close to Rs 2 crore and he is not a journalist. Zubair's counsel advocate Vrinda Grover called the cases an orchestrated investigation for stifling dissent.

The top court said, "No justification to keep him in continued custody and subject him to endless rounds of custody". It also clubbed all the FIRs against Zubair, and transferred all cases from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi Police.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 20, 2022 03:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).