Delhi High Court instructs police to preserve case diaries in the case against Devangana Kalita related to the Delhi riots.

The Delhi High Court recently directed the Delhi Police to preserve the case diaries in the 2020 Delhi riots case in which Devangana Kalita, a prominent Pinjra Tod activist, is an accused. The directive was issued by Justice Jasmeet Singh following Kalita’s plea, which called for the reconstruction and preservation of specific case diaries, particularly Volume No. 9989 and Volume No. 9990.
Kalita’s plea contends that there has been tampering and ante-dating of witness statements in the case diaries, specifically related to her involvement in the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests and the road blockade near the Jafrabad metro station in 2020. In her petition, she also expressed concerns that the integrity of evidence may have been compromised.
The High Court’s order mandates that these case diaries be preserved by the Delhi Police, and it further stated that any decision made by the Metropolitan Magistrate, who is currently overseeing the case, will be subject to the outcome of Kalita’s plea. The Court also noted that the preservation of these case diaries is crucial to ensuring that evidence remains intact for the ongoing proceedings.
The Court has listed the matter for further hearing on January 31, 2025.
Earlier, a trial court had dismissed a similar request for securing the case diaries. The trial court had noted that statements recorded under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) were not substantive evidence and therefore did not warrant immediate preservation. However, the trial court acknowledged that Kalita’s allegations of tampering had merit but indicated that the truthfulness of these claims could not be evaluated at that stage.
Advocates Adit S Pujari, Vanya Chhabra, Siddharth Kaushal, and Chaitanya Sundriyal represented Kalita in the matter. The State was represented by Additional Public Prosecutor Sunil Kumar Gautam, with Advocates Anuj Handa, Sanya Handa, Shubham Pandey, and Gautmi Shandilya appearing for the prosecution. The Delhi High Court recently directed the Delhi Police to preserve the case diaries in the 2020 Delhi riots case in which Devangana Kalita, a prominent Pinjra Tod activist, is an accused. The directive was issued by Justice Jasmeet Singh following Kalita’s plea, which called for the reconstruction and preservation of specific case diaries, particularly Volume No. 9989 and Volume No. 9990.
Kalita’s plea contends that there has been tampering and ante-dating of witness statements in the case diaries, specifically related to her involvement in the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests and the road blockade near the Jafrabad metro station in 2020. In her petition, she also expressed concerns that the integrity of evidence may have been compromised.
The High Court’s order mandates that these case diaries be preserved by the Delhi Police, and it further stated that any decision made by the Metropolitan Magistrate, who is currently overseeing the case, will be subject to the outcome of Kalita’s plea. The Court also noted that the preservation of these case diaries is crucial to ensuring that evidence remains intact for the ongoing proceedings.
The Court has listed the matter for further hearing on January 31, 2025.
Earlier, a trial court had dismissed a similar request for securing the case diaries. The trial court had noted that statements recorded under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) were not substantive evidence and therefore did not warrant immediate preservation. However, the trial court acknowledged that Kalita’s allegations of tampering had merit but indicated that the truthfulness of these claims could not be evaluated at that stage.
Advocates Adit S Pujari, Vanya Chhabra, Siddharth Kaushal, and Chaitanya Sundriyal represented Kalita in the matter. The State was represented by Additional Public Prosecutor Sunil Kumar Gautam, with Advocates Anuj Handa, Sanya Handa, Shubham Pandey, and Gautmi Shandilya appearing for the prosecution.