Court turns down Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal plea for video of police questioning
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (Express Photo by Amit Mehra/Files) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (Express Photo by Amit Mehra/Files)
A Delhi court Wednesday dismissed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s application — seeking a video of his questioning and a written copy of his statement from police — stating that there is no specific provision under the law to do so. Kejriwal was questioned earlier this month in connection with the alleged assault on Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Samar Vishal said police are “not obliged” under the law to give a copy of the statement to the person whose statement has been recorded.
Kejriwal had approached the court for directions to police for supply of a copy of CD and statement recorded under Section 161 of the CrPC on May 18. According to Kejriwal’s application, the investigating officer, Additional DCP Harender Singh made a statement before the media that the CM did not give “satisfactory answers”, which was “factually incorrect”.
Police had replied to the application stating that it was not maintainable either in fact or in law. “The applicant (Kejriwal) has not mentioned under which provisions of law he is entitled to the copy of the CD and the recorded statement under CrPC Section 161, as claimed by him. As per the scheme of CrPC, any person examined under Section 161 CrPC is not entitled for the documents. The allegations/ averments made in the application are false, incorrect and twisted, hence vehemently denied,” it said.
Appearing for the Delhi CM, B S Joon had argued that though there is no specific provision in the CrPC, rules of “natural justice and fair play” demand that a witness who has been examined by police shall be given a copy of his statement “then and there”. “Statements recorded under 161 CrPC are not signed by the witness and therefore witness has no assurance that the IO has recorded the same statement given by him or that his statement is not tampered later on.”
To this, Additional DCP Singh submitted that the applicant is a “witness”, and not an “accused” is his “self-assumed status”.
ACMM Vishal said the right of the accused to get a copy of the documents of prosecution “accrues” after the police report is filed and he is summoned as an accused. “The agency, however, is not obliged under the law to give a copy of his statement to the person whose statement it has recorded, more importantly, when the status of that person is not clear that he will be made an accused or a witness and further when the investigating agency is of the view that handling over of any such statement will be prejudicial to its investigation. Therefore, the present application cannot be allowed. Hence dismissed,” the court said.
For all the latest Delhi News, download Indian Express App