In a significant development in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, the Delhi High Court on Friday vacated its earlier order that had restrained the trial court from passing a final order on the framing of charges.
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna dismissed the plea filed by Pinjra Tod activist Devangana Kalita, who had sought access to video recordings of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) relied upon by the prosecution, as well as WhatsApp chats of police groups. By lifting the stay imposed on September 12, 2024, the High Court has now cleared the way for the Karkardooma Court to proceed with its decision on charges.
The High Court had previously permitted the trial court to continue hearing arguments on the charge but barred it from delivering a final order. Justice Krishna’s decision on Friday brings an end to that restraint. However, the Bench allowed a separate plea by Kalita seeking directions to the police to permit her inspection of the malkhana, the secure storage facility within a police station where physical evidence and seized articles are kept.
The Delhi riots larger conspiracy case involves several activists and individuals, including Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Safoora Zargar, Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Tahir Hussain, and others. The Delhi Police has invoked stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against the accused. The trial court had commenced arguments on charge in September 2024.
The development comes after a plea by the Delhi Police to transfer the matter from Justice Krishna’s bench on administrative grounds, citing delays in pronouncing judgment on reserved matters. The police had said that the Supreme Court has set up a timeline for passing of judgments in reserved matters, and the timeline has been breached in this case. The Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court had indicated that the issue would be examined administratively.
Advocates Adit S. Pujari, Chaitanya Sundriyal, Manvendra Singh Shekhawat, Siddharth Kaushal, and Harshvardhan Pushkin Sharma represented Devangana Kalita, while the Delhi Police was represented by Special Public Prosecutors Amit Prasad and Madhukar Pandey along with other counsel.
This ruling is expected to expedite proceedings in one of the high-profile cases stemming from the February 2020 anti-Hindu violence in northeast Delhi that claimed over 50 lives and left hundreds injured.
