Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Notice (8): Undefined variable: urlPrefix [APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8]latest-news-updates/delhi-riots-justice-lokur-castigates-cops-for-mishandling-of-activists-r-balaji.html"/> LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Delhi riots: Justice Lokur castigates cops for mishandling of activists -R Balaji | Im4change.org
Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Delhi riots: Justice Lokur castigates cops for mishandling of activists -R Balaji

-The Telegraph

The former SC judge said the manner in which multiple FIRs were lodged, and the way Devangana was arrested, were unheard of in Indian judicial history

The former Supreme Court judge, Justice Madan B. Lokur, has castigated Delhi police for “violating every canon of natural justice and fair play” in dealing with student anti-CAA activists Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal and Asif Iqbal Tanha, who were recently freed on bail.

Justice Lokur told The Telegraph on Wednesday that the manner in which multiple FIRs were lodged against the accused, and the way Devangana was arrested from a virtual courtroom on May 24 last year, were unheard of in Indian judicial history.

“Except as witnessed in the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Shahenshah (where the villain gets ‘accidentally’ hanged to death inside a courtroom),” he added, drawing on Bollywood to emphasise the absurdity of the situation.

Devangana, arrested on May 23 last year, had been granted bail during an online hearing on May 24 when she was immediately arrested in another case.

Justice Lokur also highlighted how the prosecution had given the accused copies of the 19,000-page chargesheet in pen drives even though they could not access computers in jail.

“Clearly and obviously, the dice was heavily loaded against the three accused.... They had to fight the bail application with their hands virtually tied behind their back against an ‘armed’ prosecution,” said Justice Lokur, who had written an opinion article on the issue in the news portal The Wire on Tuesday.

The retired judge, known for his liberal views on constitutional rights, had last September openly spoken out at a webinar against the State’s crackdown on dissent.

Please click here to read more.