The Supreme Court on Monday (July 20) stayed the Delhi High Court order in which Delhi riots accused Devangana Kalita was allowed to inspect documents which were not relied upon in the case of an alleged larger conspiracy related to the 2020 violence.
On June 6, the Delhi High Court had rejected Kalita’s plea, in which she had sought videos of the CAA-NRC protests and WhatsApp chats used against her by the Delhi Police, as they contained sensitive information. However, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna had allowed him to see the documents kept in police custody, which were not used. Delhi Police had challenged this order in the Supreme Court.
What did Solicitor General SV Raju say
Speaking before a bench of Justices Arvind Kumar and Alok Aradhe, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju said that the court’s two judgments, Debendra Nath Padhi and Sarala Gupta, clearly state that the accused is not entitled to see those documents which were not used at the stage of framing of charges. He said that demanding to see such documents at this stage is just a ploy to delay the trial.
Kalita’s lawyer’s argument
During the hearing, the lawyer appearing for Kalita said that he wanted access to a video which would show that she was protesting peacefully. He said that if there is clear evidence that he did not throw stones then he should be acquitted.
He said, ‘I wanted copies of those videos which would show that we were protesting peacefully. All the judges who have seen those videos said that we are peaceful protesters. If the video shows that I am protesting, and they did not tell me where, then how can there be talk of me throwing stones? If I am sitting peacefully then I should be acquitted. Why should I go through the trial?
Justice Kumar made this comment
However, Justice Kumar said that this could be the basis of defense at the trial stage, but these arguments cannot be considered before that; After listening to both the parties, Justice Kumar said, ‘You are not entitled to this. This was said in the decision of Sarla Gupta case. There will be a stay on the disputed order. You see the decision of Gulfisha case. You will not be able to complete your arguments even in the next 10 years and then you say that the trial is getting delayed.
53 people died in the riots
Various FIRs have been filed against student activists Kalita, Natasha Narwal, Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Jamia coordination committee member Safoora Zargar, former AAP councilor Tahir Hussain and several others in connection with the North East Delhi riots in which 53 people were killed and over 700 were injured in February 2020.
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