New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday cleared the way for the trial court to pass its final order on framing of charges in the alleged larger conspiracy case linked to the 2020 North-East Delhi riots after dismissing a plea filed by activist Devangana Kalita seeking access to certain video recordings and WhatsApp chats relied upon by the prosecution.
A single-judge Bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna vacated an interim order passed in September 2024, which had restrained the trial court from passing any final order on the charge while permitting it to continue hearing arguments in the case.
With the dismissal of Devangana Kalita’s plea seeking access to video recordings of the anti-CAA-NRC protests and WhatsApp chats of police groups collected during the investigation, the interim protection has been vacated, allowing the trial court to proceed with the matter.
Kalita had contended that the videos were recorded by an agency allegedly engaged by the Delhi Police through a tender process and were necessary for her defence. She had argued that the material could demonstrate her participation in peaceful protests and aid her discharge plea.
However, while rejecting the plea for the videos and chats, the Delhi High Court allowed a separate application filed by Kalita seeking permission to inspect the malkhana, the police storage facility where physical evidence and seized material are kept, including unrelied documents.
The interim protection had been granted on September 12, 2024, when the Delhi High Court directed that the trial court could continue hearing arguments on the charge but should not pass any final order pending adjudication of Kalita’s plea.
Earlier, the trial court had declined Kalita’s request for the entire CCTV footage pertaining to the North-East Delhi area and WhatsApp chats of groups of police officers in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case.
According to the Delhi Police, several student activists involved in organising protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) during 2019-2020 had conspired to engineer the riots that broke out in North-East Delhi in February 2020.
Kalita is among the accused in the larger conspiracy case and was granted bail by the Delhi High Court in June 2021 along with co-accused Natasha Narwal and Asif Iqbal Tanha. The decision was subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court. The case has witnessed several developments in recent months.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court dismissed the bail pleas of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, holding that the prosecution material disclosed prima facie grounds attracting the statutory embargo on bail under Section 43D(5) of the UAPA. At the same time, the apex court granted bail to five other accused — Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed.
More recently, the apex court also granted six months’ interim bail to Tasleem Ahmed and Khalid Saifi while referring to a larger Bench the question of whether prolonged incarceration and delay in trial can justify bail despite the restrictions under Section 43D(5) of the UAPA.
Last month, the Delhi High Court granted bail to Salim Malik alias Munna, observing that his alleged role was that of a local-level facilitator rather than a key conspirator.
Meanwhile, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court recently reserved its verdict on the bail plea of another accused, Athar Khan, after orally observing that WhatsApp chats placed on record prima facie indicated his active involvement in the alleged conspiracy.
(IANS)
