Senior Delhi Police officer KPS Malhotra Saturday admitted to incorrectly informing the media that AltNews' co-founder Mohammed Zubair was sent to 14-day judicial custody over an "objectionable tweet" he had posted in 2018.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police (Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations) had said earlier in the day that Mr. Zubair's bail plea was rejected by a court here, and he was sent to judicial custody.
However, Mr. Zubair's lawyer Soutik Banerjee said the court was yet to pronounce its order.
"It is extremely scandalous and it speaks of the status of rule of law in our country today. That even before the judicial magistrate has sat and pronounced the order police have leaked the order to the media," he said.
Following the allegations, Mr. Malhotra admitted to informing reporters incorrectly about Zubair's judicial custody.
"I had a word with my IO (investigating officer), I misheard it due to noise and inadvertently the message was posted in the broadcast," he said.
