Provide case charge sheet to Pinjra Tod member Natasha Narwal, orders HC

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the police to provide the entire charge sheet, after it has been filed, to Pinjra Tod member Natasha Narwal, who has been

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the police to provide the entire charge sheet, after it has been filed, to Pinjra Tod member Natasha Narwal, who has been arrested for spreading communal violence in north-east Delhi during the anti-CAA protests in February this year.

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Justice Vibhu Bakhru directed the police to also provide all the statements, including those of protected witnesses, that it was relying upon, to Narwal.

“The statements of the protected witnesses can be suitably redacted to protect their identity, the court said, noting that a statement to this effect was made earlier by Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who was representing the police.

The court also noted that the police have assured it will file the charge sheet on or before September 17.

The order came after Narwal’s counsel said that her bail application was being withdrawn from the high court and it will be moved before the appropriate trial court after the filing of the charge sheet.

On Monday, August 31, the high court had asked Narwal to consider if she wishes her bail application to be heard after two weeks when a charge sheet is likely to be filed in the case against her. The high court had said that after filing of the charge sheet before the concerned trial court, the bail plea can be filed there.

Narwal, who was arrested in May, had challenged a trial court’s order denying her bail. She is an accused in three cases under various sections of the IPC and UAPA.

Meanwhile, the court sought the response of the Delhi Police on a plea by an accused, booked under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA, challenging extension of time to complete investigation in a case related to communal violence in northeast Delhi in February.

Justice Vibhu Bakhru issued notice to the Delhi Police on the petition by Khalid, who is a member of campaign group -- United Against Hate -- and is lodged in judicial custody in the case.

United Against Hate was a citizens’’ campaign launched in 2017 to protest against series of lynching in the country and was allegedly involved in the violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in which financial support was provided by the the PFI, formed in 2006 in Kerala as a successor to the National Democratic Front (NDF).

The accused has sought to set aside the trial court’s August 13 order by which police was granted extension till September 17 to complete investigation against 10 people booked under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in the case.