Toolkit case: HC gives Centre, Delhi Police two weeks to respond to Ravi’s plea over ‘info leak’

The Delhi high court on Wednesday granted one last opportunity to the Centre and the Delhi Police to file replies on a plea by climate activist Disha Ravi seeking to restrain the probe agency from leaking any information related to the investigation in the toolkit case

The Delhi high court on Wednesday granted one last opportunity to the Centre and the Delhi Police to file replies on a plea by climate activist Disha Ravi seeking to restrain the probe agency from leaking any information related to the investigation in the toolkit case.

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Justice Prathiba M Singh asked the ministry of Information and broadcasting (I&B), represented by additional solicitor general (ASG) Chetan Sharma, and the city police’s counsel Amit Mahajan to file their responses within two weeks and posted the matter to May 18.

Ravi was arrested by the Delhi Police in February in connection with the ‘toolkit’, an online document intended to help amplify the ongoing farmers’ protest. She was charged with sedition, criminal conspiracy and inciting riots and a Delhi court granted her bail on February 13, saying there was “scanty” and “sketchy” evidence to back the charges levelled against her.

Ravi, through her counsel, Abhinav Sekhri, had moved court stating that the police had taken her mobile phone into custody on February 13 and had forced her to provide them with credentials of her private accounts. The police had denied the charges and also filed an affidavit in this regard.

The plea also said the police first “leaked investigative material” like alleged WhatsApp chats which were only in the possession of the police. It said the chats were published and disseminated by various media houses which was a violation of the provisions of law.

The petition also said “media houses published one-sided defamatory, suggestive innuendos, and half truths about the petitioner”.

On the last date of hearing (Feb 19), the court had refused to restrain several media houses from reporting on the toolkit case, but asked them to check the authenticity of news and not to sensationalise the issue. It had said “leaked investigation material” should not be circulated to prejudice the probe.