Delhi court issues notice to IOs over probe lapses in 2020 Jal Board vandalism case

New Delhi [India], April 7 (ANI): Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on Monday directed the investigating officer (IO) to clarify the status of the probe related to Facebook and Instagram in connection with the 2020 Delhi Jal Board office vandalism case.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Paras Dalal issued notices to four IOs over lacunae about the Call Detail Record (CDR) of the accused and in the filing of a statement, and asked them to comply with the order of the court.
This case was registered based on a complaint lodged by AAP leader and MP Raghav Chadha.
The court noted that the police report is stated to be pending investigation, qua the notices served to Instagram and Facebook.
"The IO is directed to clarify about the status of supplementary challan qua the same," ACJM ordered on April 7.
The court noted that the Customer Application Form (CAF) of the accused Ravi Rajput is not on record, and even the CDR has been filed without highlighting the relevant entries to pinpoint the location of each accused at the relevant time.
The statement of some witnesses under section 161 CrPC is only handwritten. The same ought to be in a typed written form and legible copies, the court pointed out.
"Let notice be issued to all four IOs of this case to overcome the above lacunae and to comply order of this court by the NDOH," the court ordered.
The court made it clear that if the orders are not complied with, all four IOs shall be bound down to personally appear before this court on the next date.
During the hearing, the court granted bail to the accused Vikas Tanwar and Ravi Rajput.
The court has granted bail to BJP leader Adesh Gupta and MP Yogender Chandolia. They have granted time to furnish bail on the next date of hearing. Adesh Gupta appeared virtually.
On the point of monitoring the investigation, counsel for Raghav Chadha sought time to argue.
On March 17, the Court had asked to supply a copy of the charge sheet and supplementary charge sheet to complainant Raghav Chadha in view of his plea for monitoring of the investigation.
This case was registered on the complaint filed by AAP MP Raghav Chadha in 2020. Later on, he filed a plea for the monitoring of the probe.
In this case, BJP MP Yogender Chandolia, BJP leader Adesh Gupta are accused.
This case has been recently transferred to the Special MP MLA Court, as Yogender Chandolia is a sitting MP.
Delhi police had filed a charge sheet under section 188, 269, 147, 148, 149, 427 and section 3 Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, section 3 of the Pandemic Act.
The court had taken Cognizance of the charge sheet and supplementary documents on April 29, 2023. (ANI)