WhatsApp chats not a ‘substantive’ proof, rules High Court in Delhi riots cases

WhatsApp

The Delhi High Court has ruled that WhatsApp chats cannot be submitted as ‘substantive’ proof, an Indian Express report said on Tuesday. The judgment came in the cases linked to 2020 Delhi riots. The order further said that at the most, WhatsApp chats can be taken as ‘corroborative’ input.

The ruling came during the hearing for five cases in the Delhi rioting five years ago. As many as 12 people were common factor in all five cases. The IE report also said that the prosecution relied largely on the WhatsApp chats as proof.

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These five cases are among nine cases that were filed over the murder of nine men, the Indian Express report added. The bodies of the victims were found almost a week after the riots in North-East Delhi. Over 50 people were killed and more than 500 were grievously injured in the violence.

As per the IE report, in all five cases, the cops had based their argument based on the chats from a WhatsApp group. This messenger group was named ‘Kattar Hindu Ekta.’ Several chargesheets filed by Delhi Police had named this group.

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In a chargesheet, Lokesh Solanki, who was one of the accused, allegedly messaged others in the group about killing Muslim men. In the WhatsApp chat, Solanki allegedly said that he had killed 2 men from the Muslim community. It was his grilling that led to arrest of others. These men were accused of nine murders during the Delhi riots.

Karkardooma Court Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala acquitted the accused. “Such posts may be put in the group solely with the intention of becoming a hero in the estimation of other members of the group. It could be a boast, without truth. Therefore, the relied upon chats cannot be substantive evidence to show that the accused… had actually killed two Muslim persons,” Additional Sessions Judge Pramachala said in the order.