Court recalls riots chargesheet after police discloses witness names
New Delhi: A Delhi court has recalled the soft copies of the chargesheet filed in the case pertaining to the conspiracy in the northeast Delhi riots case, after the Special Cell of the Delhi Police “inadvertently” divulged the names of the protected witnesses.
The identity of witnesses was revealed in the voluminous chargesheet filed by the police against 15 accused, including Tahir Hussain and Safoora Zargar, under various sections of UAPA, Indian Penal Code, Arms Act and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act on September 16.
Under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, there is provision for protecting the identity of the witnesses for their safety. The whole idea is to provide cover to the identity of the witnesses so that they can depose fairly and independently in the court.
Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad told the court that the identity of some of the protected witnesses were inadvertently disclosed by way of attaching untruncated judicial and investigation papers in the chargesheet, which is neither “intentional nor deliberate”.
The prosecutor further told the court, “It has come to the knowledge of the investigating agency that at least three protected witnesses have been reached out to by various persons with vested interest, in relation to the present case.”
Prasad said that it was necessary to extract the relevant document from the judicial file that is with the court, replace it with a truncated version, seal the original and keep it on the record.
In an order on October 9, Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat said that there is a mistake on the part of the Investigating Officer and since the purpose of giving protection to the identity of the protected witnesses is for fair trial and for specific protection to the witnesses, hence, the immediate protection order is required to be passed.
The Additional Sessions Judge directed the counsel for the 15 accused to return the pen drive containing the alleged disclosure of the names of the protected witnesses.
“and hence, it would be in the fitness of things to ask them, who are Officers of the Court, to return them in the court and the Investigating Officer can be asked to provide the fresh copies immediately to the accused persons and counsels on the next date.”
The accused persons or any other person or authority have also been directed not to divulge, publish, disclose, disseminate or circulate the identity of the protected witnesses and not to approach them directly or indirectly in any manner whatsoever.
The judge added, “The return of the pen drive shall also pertain to the one supplied to the court itself. The record where the disclosure of protected witnesses has happened in the judicial file along with the pen drive in the court shall be kept in a sealed cover in the court in the judicial file and the redacted version of the said record shall be filed in the court.”
The charge sheet names Tahir Hussain, Safoora Zargar, Gulfisha Khatoon, Devangana Kalita, Shafa-ur-Rehman, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Natasha Narwal, Abdul Khalid Saifi, Ishrat Jahan, Meeran Haidar, Shadab Ahamd, Taslim Ahmad, Saleem Malik, Athar Khan and Mohammed Salim Khan.
