On Friday, Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala, in his bail order to journalist Mohammed Zubair, observed that democracy “can neither work nor prosper” unless citizens express their views.
“Undoubtedly, free speech is the proper foundation of a democratic society,” the judge said.
Fact-checker and prominent Muslim journalist Mohammed Zubair, bombarded with FIRs over the past few weeks, was granted bail in one more case today but he will stay in jail over two more cases.
Zubair was granted bail in the case filed by the Delhi Police over a 2018 tweet, for which he was arrested last month.
The judgement also referred to the text “Before 2014 and after 2014” that Zubair had written in the tweet in an apparent reference to the Narendra Modi-led government coming to power. It said that criticism of a political party did not justify invoking the criminal charges, and that dissent was necessary for a healthy democracy.
The judge said that the police had failed to establish the identity of the Twitter user who was offended by Zubair’s post. He also said the tweet was posted in 2018, and no complaint had earlier been made that the post was offensive to the Hindu religion.
The judgement also noted that the film Kissi Se Na Kehna was approved by the Central Board of Film Certification and has been available for public viewing since its release in 1983.
