The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought response from the Delhi Police on two petitions filed by Pinjra Tod activist Devangana Kalita seeking video recording of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), as well as WhatsApp chats of police groups.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Amit Bansal directed the Police to file their reply and listed the matter for further hearing on January 17, 2024.
The two petitions filed by Kalita challenged the trial court orders, which rejected her prayer for the video footage as well as plea for transcript of WhatsApp chats.
While one case relates to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the Delhi riots, the other concerns the murder of a person protesting near the Jafrabad flyover.
Advocate Adit S Pujari appeared for Kalita and told the bench that the videos and WhatsApp chats are a part of the Delhi Police’s chargesheets and have been relied upon by the prosecution.
Yet, the videos and chats in full have not been provided to her, Pujari stressed.
In May this year, the Supreme Court had dismissed an appeal filed by Delhi Police against the Delhi High Court verdict granting bail to Asif Iqbal Tanha, Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal in a Delhi Riots case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The Bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah clearly said the High Court’s order shall not be treated as precedent just because of elaborate discussion on merits.
It added that the very purpose of an interim order was to ensure that interpretation and views on a law should not be enunciated in bail hearing.
It clarified that they have not gone into the legal position of law’s statutory interpretation one way or the other. The Court also rejected the Delhi Police request for adjournment.
The bench said that no more (adjournment), it is not possible, not every time.It also recorded the same in its order while rejecting the plea.
The Court said that the bail hearings should not be prolonged and dismissed the appeal reasoning that nothing survived.
The post Delhi Riots 2020: High Court issues notice to Police on Devangana Kalita pleas seeking video of CAA-NRC protests, Whatsapp chats of police groups appeared first on India Legal.