India News | Provide Complete Charge Sheet to Pinjra Tod Member Narwal Once Filed: HC to Police
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Delhi High Court Tuesday directed the police to provide the entire charge sheet, once it is filed, to the Pinjra Tod member who is facing allegations in a case related to communal violence in northeast Delhi during the anti-CAA protests in February this year.
New Delhi, Sep 1 (PTI) The Delhi High Court Tuesday directed the police to provide the entire charge sheet, once it is filed, to the Pinjra Tod member who is facing allegations in a case related to communal violence in northeast Delhi during the anti-CAA protests in February this year.
Justice Vibhu Bakhru directed the police to also provide the women's collective member -- JNU student Natasha Narwal -- all the statements, including those of protected witnesses, that it was relying upon.
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The statements of the protected witnesses can be suitably redacted to protect their identity, the court said, noting that a statement to this effect was made earlier by Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, who was representing the police.
The court also noted that the police has assured it will file the charge sheet on or before September 17.
The order came after Narwal's counsel said that her bail application was being withdrawn from the high court and it will be moved before the appropriate trial court after the filing of the charge sheet.
"The application is dismissed as withdrawn," the court said.
On Monday, August 31, the high court had asked Narwal to consider if she wishes her bail application to be heard after two weeks when a charge sheet is likely to be filed in the case against her.
The high court had said that after filing of the charge sheet before the concerned trial court, the bail plea can be filed there.
Narwal, who was arrested in May, had challenged a trial court's order denying her bail. She is an accused in three cases under various sections of the IPC and UAPA.
“As far as this petitioner (Narwal) is concerned, a charge sheet will be filed within the time given then you will have the entire material with you which this court has with it right now. We are of the prime facie view that there is evidence against you,” the judge had orally said during the hearing on Monday.
The judge had also said that till now he has perused 20 per cent of the case diary of the police and was of the prima facie that there is material against Narwal and the material is such which he did not think any court can ignore.
Narwal and another member of the group Devangana Kalita were arrested in the case in May this year by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police and booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including rioting, unlawful assembly and attempt to murder.
They have also been booked under the stringent anti-terror law - Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a separate case related to the communal violence, for allegedly being part of a "premeditated conspiracy" in the riots.
Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.
In all, four cases have been registered against Kalita, including in relation to the northeast Delhi riots earlier this year and violence in old Delhi's Daryaganj area during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in December last year.
She has got bail in three of the four cases against her.
On June 14, a trial court had dismissed bail pleas of Narwal and Kalita on the ground that there was no merit in the applications and that it was amply clear from the charge sheet that the investigation was still pending and it has been filed against other accused persons also.
Pinjra Tod (Break the Cage) was founded in 2015 with an aim to make hostels and paying guest accommodations less restrictive for women students.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)