The Delhi High Court Thursday sought the Delhi Police’s stand on two pleas moved by Devangana Kalita seeking certain videos and WhatsApp chats in two cases, including the UAPA “larger conspiracy case”, pertaining to the 2020 riots.
A single-judge bench of Justice Amit Bansal issued notice to the police in both petitions and listed the matters on January 17, 2024. The court, however, refused to stay the trial court proceedings, observing that there is no question of granting a stay until both sides are heard.
Special Public Prosecutor Madhukar Pandey, appearing for the police, argued that the petitions were not maintainable. He submitted that the investigation was ongoing and the video footage was not part of the chargesheet.
Appearing for Kalita, advocate Adit S Pujari argued that the police had commissioned certain persons to take videos of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens in February 2020. He said these videos have been seized by the police and seizure memo has been filed, and argued that the videos be supplied before the arguments on charge/discharge proceeds before the trial court.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here .