E-Paper
Espionage case: Hisar court provides charge sheet to Jyoti Malhotra
Her lawyer Kumar Mukesh said that Jyoti was produced physically before judicial magistrate (first class) Sunil Kumar and a charge sheet was given to her.
A Hisar court on Tuesday provided a copy of the charge sheet (amended) to YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, who was arrested on May 16 on espionage charges.
Her lawyer Kumar Mukesh said that Jyoti was produced physically before judicial magistrate (first class) Sunil Kumar and a charge sheet was given to her.
He said that she would be produced in court again on October 1.
On September 3, the Hisar court dismissed the default bail plea of Hisar-based YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra and restrained the media from publishing the charge sheet. The court had provided an amended copy of the charge sheet to Malhotra as the Hisar police had sought to withhold certain portions of the charge sheet, citing sensitive information including Jyoti’s alleged chats and videos exchanged with Pakistani operatives.
The same day court had accepted two applications—allowing submission of an amended charge sheet and restricting media from publishing it—but rejected the plea to stop media briefings. Her lawyer Mukesh argued that a complete challan was not filed within the stipulated 90-day period and withholding documents hampered his ability to defend the case.
Malhotra was arrested on May 16 in Hisar, Haryana, under provisions of the Official Secrets Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Her arrest is part of a broader crackdown on Pakistan’s spy network following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
Malhotra was arrested for allegedly spying for Pakistan, with links to a Pakistani High Commission official in Delhi, Ahsan-ur-Rahim (also known as Danish), who India expelled on May 13 on espionage charges.
She is among 12 people arrested across Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in a coordinated crackdown on a suspected spy ring that allegedly targeted Indian social media influencers to gather intelligence.
