Alka Verma –
Published On: October 29, 2021 at 12:17 IST
On Thursday, a Court in Delhi refused to share the phone data of several Accused with other Co-Accused of Delhi riots.
The Delhi based Court stated that phone data recovered from several Accused in the conspiracy Case of Delhi riots can’t be shared as it infringes their Right to Privacy as the data contains private photos and videos as well.
“It appears that there is a question of Right of Privacy of Accused and supply of any such data, as asked for, will have an impact on personal lives of the Accused persons and thus, supplying any photographs or video as contained in the mobile phone of Accused to any other Accused persons or even to the Counsel of the Accused would not be possible,” stated the Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat.
The Judge also stated that because the Prosecution has showed him few private videos and photographs, the same cannot be shared with everyone.
“I am told that there are certain audio and video of Accused persons which cannot be supplied. Perhaps it appears even to their counsels because it is pornographic material and video of self. From the look of those photographs and videos, it cannot be made available to anyone,” stated the Judge.
Adding to this, the Judge orally stated, “There are some porn videos, it appears that Accused persons have made of themselves. So, I guess you would understand that it would hamper the privacy and lives.”
However, the Judge also clarified that apart from pornographic material, the phone also contains few personal photographs of the Accused persons as well.
The Court made these remarks after the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) stated that the data recovered from phone of the Accused persons cannot be shared with Co-Accused persons because of privacy reasons.
The Court also observed that the Public Prosecutor had given two sealed envelopes that contained all the data recovered from the phones, including personal pictures and videos of the Accused.
It should be noted here that ex-Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Umar Khalid, varsity students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, Jamia Coordination Committee member Safoora Zargar, former Aam Aadmi Party councilor Tahir Hussain and others are the Accused being involved in the February 2020 riots, due to which 53 people Died and over 700 got injured.
Also, they all are booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).