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2h ago

Delhi HC Orders Preservation of Jafrabad Case Diary, Rejects Reconstruction Plea

The judge framed preservation as a safeguard for trial fairness pending any later examination of the disputed entries.

A bench of justice Ravinder Dudeja, however, rejected activist Devangana Kalita’s plea for reconstruction of the case diary. (Representative photo)
The court passed the order on a plea challenging a city court’s November 6 order. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
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Overview

  • Justice Ravinder Dudeja made a December 2 interim direction to preserve the police case diary permanent and declined a request to reconstruct it.
  • The court said the case diary is not itself evidence but its loss could affect a fair trial, warranting preservation.
  • Petitioner Devangana Kalita, joined by activist Natasha Narwal, alleged police tampered with and ante‑dated witness statements in the diary, which remains an untested claim.
  • A trial court order on November 6, 2024, had refused to entertain reconstruction, citing an inability to assess the allegations’ veracity at that stage.
  • The case relates to a February 2020 Jafrabad FIR from the Delhi riots, which saw one death locally, and prosecutors told the High Court proceedings were at the stage of arguments on charge.