Mohammed Zubair goes to apex Court for bail, cites death threats

We are concerned about his safety, says his lawyer Gonsalves

The Pinnacle Court is likely to hear tomorrow fact-checker Mohammed Zubair's plea seeking bail and quashing of a case registered against him in Sitapur on allegations of hurting religious sentiments, reports ndtv.com

His lawyer, Colin Gonsalves, requested for immediate hearing: "There are death threats against him... People have said that they will kill him. We are worried about his safety." Asking the court to hear the plea at 2pm today, he said, "Please see the urgency." Justice Indira Banerjee ordered that the matter be listed tomorrow "subject to clearance by the Chief Justice of India".

Mr Zubair, a resident of Bengaluru and co-founder of fact-checking outlet Alt News, is in Delhi's Tihar Jail as he was first arrested by the Delhi Police on June 27 over a four-year-old tweet. 

He was later taken to Sitapur in UP where another FIR was registered against him as he called some Hindu right-wing leaders "hatemongers".

His advocate informed the top court that the Allahabad High Court has refused to quash the (Sitapur) FIR against him.