By Sohini Ghosh
The Delhi High Court Thursday issued notice to the state in a plea by activist Devangana Kalita, one of the accused in the larger conspiracy case in the Northeast Delhi riots in 2020, who is seeking preservation and reconstruction of the case diary in connection with a probe by the police.
The case diary pertains to the probe that stems from an FIR lodged at the Jafrabad Police Station in February 2020.
Kalita, in her plea before the High Court, is seeking setting aside of a judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) order of Shahdara, Karkardooma, court in Delhi from November 6, where the court refused to delve into allegations by Kalita of tampering and antedating Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) Section 161 statements (examination of witnesses by police) which were part of the case diary and filed with the main as well as supplementary chargesheets in the case.
Through her counsel Adit Pujari, Kalita first raised the allegations of record tampering before the magistrate court and sought that the court secure the complete booklet pertaining to the relevant case diaries. The prosecution objected to it and said calling for the booklets would delay the matter. The JMFC court opined that while the allegations “raise suspicion on the version of the investigation agency” and “while there may be merits” in the allegations raised by Kalita, it ruled it “cannot go into the truthfulness and veracity of the allegations.”
The magistrate court further recorded that the issue raised pertains to procedural aspect and that CrPC Section 161 statements are “not even substantive pieces of evidence,” and ruled that there was “no requirement” of calling for the booklets.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.
