Delhi riots: Court allows Umar Khalid’s plea for obtaining copy of chargesheet

New Delhi: A court in Delhi on Saturday has allowed former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid’s application wherein he requested for the copy of the chargesheet filed against him in connection with Delhi violence case.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat directed the staff to provide a soft copy of the chargesheet and said, “The court feels that it would be in the fitness of things to allow the present application so far as the prayer of providing the soft copy of the chargesheet in the form of pendrive, is concerned.”

Advocate Trideep Pais, representing accused Khalid, moved the plea. The application submitted that there has been vicious media campaign against his client in various newspapers and media channels, which are reporting various things about him quoting from the chargesheet and he does not have the copy of the chargesheet to either defend himself in the media trial or understand the narrative being built. He has run certain clips of the reporting of the media channel and filed some articles/reports of the newspaper.

Special Public Prosecutor Advocate Amit Prasad submitted that he does not accept any of the allegations made by the counsel for the accused but has no objection if the copy of the chargesheet is provided.

Delhi Police has recently filed a supplementary charge-sheet in North Delhi Violence matter held in February this year.

The Ccourt on November 24 had accepted the fresh supplementary chargesheet and says that there is sufficient material to proceed against accused Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and Faizan Khan for offences under provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

According to the Delhi Police JNU student leader Umar Khalid, Imam and one other accused have conspired to cause disruption of such an extent and such a magnitude that it would lead to disorderliness and disturbance of law and order at an unprecedented scale.

According to the investigators, the accused had entered into a deep-rooted and sinister conspiracy to do an illegal act with the object to disturb societal harmony by their terrorist acts.The law and order situation was paralysed, essential services became unavailable and rumours and disinformation became the order of the day as desired by the accused persons who were acting in a systematic, structured and organised manner, said Delhi police.