Violence erupted in northeast Delhi on February 24 (archive)
New Delhi:
A Delhi court hearing a case involving the northeast Delhi riots was informed that the police “inadvertently” placed a document containing the details of some of the protected witnesses on the copies of the charge sheet supplied to the defendant. registered under the strict UAPA. .
The Special Prosecutor Amit Prasad, who appeared before the police, approached the court informing him of the lapse after the investigating body learned that at least three protected witnesses have been contacted by several people with vested interests, in relation to the case.
Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat said there was an error on the part of the Investigating Officer and ordered the Delhi Police Special Cell, which is investigating the case, to guarantee the comprehensive safety of all protected witnesses.
The court ordered the defendant and his lawyer to return the documents. It also ordered the accused or any other person or authority not to disclose, publish, disclose, disseminate or circulate the identity of the protected witnesses and not to approach them directly or indirectly.
He ordered the police to file new copies of the charge sheet containing the details of the protected witnesses and to hand it over to the 15 people accused in the case and their lawyers.
The court’s instructions came after Mr. Prasad submitted an urgent request saying that the identity of some of the protected witnesses in the case were “inadvertently” revealed by attaching non-truncated investigative and judicial documents on the sheet. of charges.
“Under the Unlawful Activity (Prevention) Act 1967, there is a specific provision to protect the identity of witnesses for their safety and, consequently, orders have been issued regarding the protection of protected witnesses.
“Therefore, this particular provision was intended to protect identity and ensure its safety for the purposes of a fair trial,” the judge said.
“The idea is to cover the identity of the witnesses so that they can testify fairly and independently in court.
“Consequently, once the court approved the order, the identity should not have been disclosed,” the court said in its order approved Oct. 9.
The request submitted by Mr. Prasad stated that the act was neither intentional nor deliberate.
The electronic copy of the charge sheet, identical to the original charge sheet, was given to the defendants or their attorneys, he said.
The court said: “The pendrive delivered to the lawyers of the defendants contains the supposed disclosure of the name of the protected witnesses and, therefore, it would be appropriate to ask them, who are court officials, to return them in the court “.
“The return of the pendrive will also correspond to the one supplied to the court itself. The file where the disclosure of protected witnesses in the judicial file has occurred together with the pendrive in the court will be kept in a sealed cover in the court in the judicial file and the redacted version of that record will be filed with the court. The Investigating Officer will coordinate with the court’s Ahlmad to do what is necessary, “he said.
The defendants include members of Pinjra Tod and JNU students Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, student of Jamia Millia Islamia Asif Iqbal Tanha, Gulfisha Khatoon, former congressional councilor Ishrat Jahan, members of the Coordinating Committee of Jamia Safoora Zargar, Meeran Haider , Shafa-Ur-Rehman, suspended AAP Councilor Tahir Hussain, activist Khalid Saifi, Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Salim Malik, Mohd Salim Khan and Athar Khan.
They have been accused of allegedly being part of a larger conspiracy in the riots.
JNU student Sharjeel Imam and former JNU student leader Umar Khalid have also been arrested under anti-terrorism law in the case, but have not yet been charged.
The request submitted by Mr. Prasad stated that the investigating agency was aware of the safety and protection of public witnesses, including protected public witnesses.
“The life, liberty, security and protection of protected public witnesses are of the utmost importance. The State is the protector and guardian of the life and liberty of the citizens of this country. During the investigation of this case, the identity of some of the witnesses were kept confidential as contemplated in the UA (P) Law.
“It is also necessary that the pertinent documents be extracted from the judicial file and replaced by a truncated version and the original is sealed and registered. This application is presented in good faith and in the interests of justice, equity and fair play.” said the app.
Violence erupted in northeast Delhi on February 24 after clashes between supporters of the citizenship law and protesters spiraled out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated channel.)
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