Case Filed Against Alt News' Zubair Over Tweet on Muzaffarnagar School Incident

Zubair had reportedly posted a video of the incident on X but later deleted it.

Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair has landed in trouble with the authorities once again over a tweet.

(Photo: Vibhushita Singh/ The Quint) 

Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair has landed in trouble with the authorities once again over a tweet.

In a nutshell: Muzaffarnagar Police has lodged a case against the fact-checker on Monday, 28 August, for allegedly disclosing the identity of the seven-year-old Muslim boy who was slapped by his classmates on the instructions of his teacher.

• Zubair had reportedly posted a video of the incident on X (formerly Twitter) but later deleted it.

The FIR against Zubair was registered under Section 74 (prohibition on disclosure of identity of children) of The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

"No report in any newspaper, magazine, news-sheet or audio-visual media or other forms of communication regarding any inquiry or investigation or judicial procedure, shall disclose the name, address or school or any other particular, which may lead to the identification of a child in conflict with law or a child in need of care and protection or a child victim or witness of a crime, involved in such matter, under any other law for the time being in force, nor shall the picture of any such child be published..."

the provision states, as per India Code

The defence: "I did not receive any notice or call from the police. It was through social media that I found that an FIR has been lodged against me. I was checking the FIR and it does not have any other names," Zubair was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

• "Why was only my name put there? There were several media outlets that posted the video before and after me. I later removed the video after I was told that I was disclosing the minor’s identity. This has happened to me before in 2020 as well. I was targeted… This shows the police can target anyone,” he added.

The story so far: In a purported video, Tripta Tyagi, a teacher from Neha Public school in UP's Muzaffarnagar, was seen allegedly telling other students to slap a seven-year-old Muslim student.

• The incident which took place on 24 August, sparked outrage on social media.

• Days later, the school was sent a notice by the education department, stating that it doesn't meet the regulatory standards.

Of note: The teacher in the purported video has also been booked by the UP Police under Sections 323 (causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code.