The Allahabad High Court has raised concerns about Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of Alt News and a self-styled fact-checker, regarding his motives behind sharing a social media post about an alleged speech by Yati Narsinghanand. The court questioned why Zubair chose to post on X (formerly known as Twitter) instead of filing a formal complaint, suggesting that his actions may have contributed to “social disharmony.” This comment was made in response to a plea Zubair filed challenging the first information report (FIR) against him, which accuses him of promoting discord through his posts.

Zubair's conduct seemed to fuel social discontent, according to a division bench headed by Justices Siddhartha Varma and Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra. “If this person (Narsinghanand) is making controversial statements, shouldn’t you file an FIR rather than escalate the situation?” He added, “If you don’t like the speech, file an FIR, instead of using social media to create further unrest,” Justice Varma remarked. The fact that Zubair used social media to spread the alleged speech rather than going via the court system infuriated Justice Varma. He said, “Come to the court. Why create social disharmony through social media? A glance at your tweet shows you are inciting unrest.” 

By drawing attention to the speech, Zubair's attorney contended that he was only using his "constitutional right to freedom of speech" and that he was not aware of the FIR that had been filed against Narsinghanand just hours before he was posted. Justice Varma was not convinced by the defence, asking if social media could take the place of legal actions. He asked, “Is there any law that permits someone to use Twitter instead of approaching the court?”

According to the Uttar Pradesh Additional Advocate General (AAG), Zubair misrepresented Narsinghanand's statements in order to incite unrest. The AAG pointed out that Article 19(2) of the Constitution allows for limitations on the right to free speech. Additionally, he told the court that Zubair was the subject of a lookout notice.

An FIR was filed against Zubair after Udita Tyagi, the general secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust, lodged a complaint. Tyagi accused Zubair of creating hatred through his social media posts, especially a tweet on October 3rd, which included edited video clips of Narsinghanand’s speech. The complaint claims these clips were edited to provoke violence. Earlier, on December 3, 2024, a bench led by Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Prashant Kumar refused to hear the case and sent it to another bench. 

The FIR includes charges under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), for threatening India’s sovereignty, unity, and integrity due to Zubair’s tweet. Tyagi’s complaint also alleges that Zubair’s post, featuring altered clips of Narsinghanand’s controversial remarks about Prophet Muhammad, encouraged extremist views against the priest. Along with Arshad Madani and Asaduddin Owaisi, Tyagi also charged Zubair with inciting violent protests at Dasna Devi Mandi. Charges under several BNS provisions, including slander, fabricating evidence, and inciting religious hostility, resulted from the complaint. The FIR was then amended to include Section 152. The date of the upcoming hearing is December 20, 2024.