Delhi HC orders man to publicly apologise to Alt News co-founder Zubair for 'Jihadi' remark

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Delhi High Court on Thursday ordered Jagdish Singh to post an apology on X for labeling Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair as a «jihadi» in a post from four years ago, reported TOI. Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani's single-judge bench directed Singh to issue the apology within a week and keep it on X for at least two months.

The directive followed a 2020 petition by Zubair seeking to dismiss a Delhi Police FIR after Singh accused him of cyber sexual harassment related to a retweet of Singh’s granddaughter's blurred photo. Delhi Police had cleared Zubair of wrongdoing in the case, according to the TOI repot.

The court stated that Zubair would not pursue further action against Singh once the apology was posted, and Singh must include the specific text: «I regret making the above comment which was not made with any malice or intention to hurt or offend Mohammed Zubair,» referring to Singh's original tweet claiming «Once a jihadi is always jihadi.»

The bench criticized Singh’s online behavior, suggesting that such individuals should be barred from social media. Delhi Police reported that Singh had expressed regret and affirmed his respect for all religions. Despite finding no incriminating evidence, the police had faced criticism for not taking action against Singh, noted TOI.

The court further said that Singh’s tweet did not pose a public threat, leading to no case being registered against him.