On 16th July, Ajmer Sessions Court acquitted Gauhar Chishti and others who were accused of raising provocative slogans of “Gustakh-e-Nabi ki ek saza, sar tan se juda” against former Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma. The court judgment pointed to critical lapses in the investigation attributed to the then-Congress-led Rajasthan Government. There were serious lapses pointed out by the judge that compromised the integrity of the case.
Delay and mishandling of evidence against Gauhar Chishti
The judgment highlighted several key areas where there were flaws in the investigation. Notably, the complainant in the case, constable Jai Narayan, recorded the incident where Gauhar Chishti gave a provocative speech on his mobile on 17th June 2022. He held to the evidence until 25th June 2022 and his mobile phone was never formally seized for examination. Furthermore, Jai Narayan claimed that the video was shown to Banwari Lal and Dalveer Singh though no action was taken raising questions on how the investigation was done in the matter.
Questionable evidence and discrepancies
The whole acquittal in the matter is based on several technical lapses in the investigation. In 2023, Jai Narayan informed the court that his phone had broken down. A CD of the video was made on 30th June 2022. The court said that the day when the CD was created and the condition of the mobile phone raised questions on the reliability of the evidence.
Furthermore, the prosecution stated that a meeting regarding the protest was held on 16th June 2022 and it was recorded on CCTV’s DVR. However, it was established by the court that the DVR was not obtained through lawful means. No witness confirmed that a formal request to the Anjuman Yadgar Committee was made to obtain the said video.
Key people were not questioned
The judgement states that the permission for a silent march where the slogans were raised was obtained by SM Akbar and Mohammed Alimuddin, but they were not questioned, not made witnesses and not included as accused. The court stated that they could have been important witnesses, which makes the prosecution case doubtful.
Discrepancies in witness testimonies
The court furthermore added that there were discrepancies in the witness statements. Two of the witnesses said that the slogans were raised for 15-20 minutes. However, one of the witnesses said it only lasted for 5-7 minutes. Jai Narayan mentioned they were raised for 15-20 minutes. The court noted that the video looked edited raising further questions about the evidence. The inconsistencies indicated the possibility of editing and tempering the CD weakening the prosecution case.
Evidence handling and chain of custody issues in evidence against Gauhar Chishti
The court also raised questions over the handling of the evidence. The CD presented in the matter lacked proper sealing. There was no indication that the CD was kept in safe custody. During the trial, the investigating officer admitted that the evidence was not sealed raising doubts about its credibility. There is a proper chain of custody protocols that were not followed. These chain of custody protocols are in place to ensure that evidence is reliable and untampered. As these protocols were not followed, the evidence came under scrutiny.
Lack of cooperation and accountability
The court also noted that there was a lack of cooperation from the key witnesses and the investigating authorities. The investigating offer refused to check messages and relied only on the oral statements that undermined the investigation’s thoroughness. Dalveer Singh also denied seeing the video in his statement contradicting Jai Narayan’s statement. These all factors collectively pointed towards negligence in the investigation.
The points raised in the judgment show that there is a need for re-investigation in the matter and the current government under the BJP needs to take it seriously to ensure justice is served.
OpIndia earlier explained how High Court refused to grant bail to Gauhar Chishti multiple times. Our detailed report can be checked here.
