15 accused in Delhi riots tell city court that they haven’t been given copy of charge sheet

Some of the 15 accused booked for allegedly conspiring in the north east Delhi riots alleged before a city court on Tuesday that they have not been given access to the charge sheet in jail despite its orders

Some of the 15 accused booked for allegedly conspiring in the north east Delhi riots alleged before a city court on Tuesday that they have not been given access to the charge sheet in jail despite its orders.

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Some of the other accused, who have got the access to it, sought the court’s directions to the jail authorities for a uniform time limit, preferably more than an hour a day, for reading the voluminous charge sheet on the computer system in prison.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat, while expressing displeasure, has put up the matter for further hearing on February 2.

“What’s the point of uploading it on the computer if the accused cannot access it? Why are they given different time slots?” the judge remarked.

During the hearing, accused Khalid Saifi, Shifa Ur-Rehman, and Shadab Ahmed claimed that the charge sheet has been uploaded in the jail computer as per the court’s orders but they have not been given access to it.

“Police officials have uploaded the charge sheet in the computer but the jail authorities have not given me access to it,” said Saifi, who was produced from Mandoli jail, said.

Rehman, lodged in Tihar jail, said the prison authorities did not inform him till date that the charge sheet has been uploaded and he can get read it. Suspended AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain also claimed he has not been able to read the charge sheet as the computer system was always occupied.

Former JNU student leader Umar Khalid submitted he had been given three hours some day while one hour the next day for reading the charge sheet.

While JNU student Sharjeel Imam claimed he has been given two hours to read the charge sheet, former Congress Councillor Ishrat Jahan said she was given one hour and Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha said he has been given access to the computer for half an hour only.

When the judge asked the Tihar jail authorities, who were present during the virtual hearing, about the concerns raised by the accused, he failed to give any answer.

Meanwhile, another city court on Tuesday directed the police to preserve the call detail records (CDRs) of 10 accused from February 20-28 last year in a north-east Delhi riots case.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Dinesh Kumar said the CDRs of the mobile phone numbers of the accused persons were required to be preserved as it would not be possible in future to call them during evidence. The court directed the investigating officer (IO) to take all the necessary steps within 10 days for CDR preservation and file a compliance report on February 1.

It was hearing a plea moved by accused Shadab Alam for directions to the police for preservation of CDRs of all the accused in the case as it was available only for a year with the mobile service providers