A Delhi court on Monday gave the Delhi police permission to petition the high court to prevent TV news channel AajTak from broadcasting the details of the FIR, including the digital evidence related to the murder of Shraddha Walker.
The Delhi police requested that orders be issued to Aaj Tak and other media outlets not to air content related to the FIR filed in the matter. Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Manisha Khurana Kakkar of Saket Court was hearing the application.
The accused in the Shraddha murder case, Aaftab Amin Poonawala, underwent a narcoanalysis and psychological evaluation; the ASJ granted a three-day order preventing Aaj Tak from airing the findings.
“…Instructions to state on behalf of news channel Aaj Tak that the said channel shall not telecast/publish/disseminate the contents of the psychological assessment and voice layer test, narco analysis test, and conversation recorded on Practo App for the next three days, i.e, till April 20,” the court said.
It should be noted that on April 10, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Ramesh Kumar Singh prohibited Aajtak and other news outlets from reporting on the chargesheet’s details, including the digital evidence, in connection with the murder of Shraddha Walker, declaring that “It is already a settled law that Chargesheet is not a Public Document.”
The court was considering Inspector Ram Singh’s request for an injunction telling AajTak and other media outlets “not to telecast” the documents related to the inquiry into the murder of Shraddha. He had stated that nothing relating to a court record could be used by any party or person without the court’s approval. The Delhi High Court Rules, which forbid third parties from obtaining copies of the case’s court records unless a compelling reason is provided to the court, were also cited by the judge.
“Article 21 of the Constitution of India protects the Life and Liberty of a person, it also contemplates a Protection of the psychological state of mind of such a person. Any dissemination of “sensitive info” pertaining to a Murder case will definitely result in psychological repercussions on the accused (Aaftab Amin Poonawala) and also on the victim’s family”, the court had observed.
Aftab Poonawala was taken into custody on November 12 after Shraddha’s family filed a missing person’s case. Aftab and Shraddha shared a home in Delhi’s Mehrauli neighbourhood. Six months before his arrest, Aftab had murdered Shraddha. Aftab reportedly cut Shraddha’s body into 35 pieces and threw each piece in a different location throughout Delhi.
