The Supreme Court on Monday stayed a Delhi High Court order that allowed Delhi riots-accused Devangana Kalita to inspect documents not relied upon by the prosecution in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case.
"You will not conclude your arguments even in 10 years, and then you say there is delay in trial," a Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Vipul M Pancholi said as it issued notice to Kalita on the Delhi Police’s petition challenging the June 5 order of the high court and posted the matter for hearing after two weeks.
On behalf of the Delhi Police, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju submitted that Kalita was not entitled to any document until charges were framed. “They can’t ask for any other document. What is the purpose of inspection at this stage?” Raju wondered.
Referring to a Supreme Court judgment, Kalita’s counsel said the list of documents not relied upon must also be furnished before framing of the charges.
The February 2020 Delhi riots during the visit of the then US President Donald Trump claimed 53 lives and left more than 700 injured. The violence had erupted during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Student activists Kalita, Natasha Narwal, Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and several others have been booked under various FIRs in relation to the Northeast Delhi riots. Khalid and Imam have not been granted bail.
On June 5, the high court had lifted the stay on framing of charges in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case related to the 2020 riots and allowed the trial court to pass a final order.
The high court had vacated the court’s order while dismissing Kalita’s plea seeking direction to the police to provide her certain videos and WhatsApp chats in relation to the case.
The court, however, allowed a separate petition by Kalita and permitted her to inspect unrelied-upon documents in the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) case.
Kalita had moved the high court in 2023, claiming that Delhi Police had commissioned certain persons to record the February 2020 protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens, and the footage should be supplied to her before the trial court proceeds to hear the arguments as it would show that she was protesting peacefully.
Besides the video footage, she had also sought the “entire WhatsApp chat” of a group, alleging that “selective extracts” were being used against the petitioner.
In the judgment, the court stated that all evidence being relied upon by the prosecution, along with the chargesheet, has already been provided to Kalita, along with the entire footage of the riots relevant to her.
The High Court had said that only the communication, information, chats of police officials’ groups and WhatsApp groups that are neither relied upon nor relevant have not been shared with the petitioner as they may contain sensitive information or privileged communication that cannot be disclosed.