Disha Ravi to be confronted with two co-accused: Delhi Police to Court

The Delhi Police told a local court on Friday that they wanted to confront the three co-accused in the "toolkit" probe with each other to unearth the roles played by them in preparing the document linked to the farmer protest. The court remanded the arrested accused, 21-year-old activist Disha Ravi, in three days of judicial custody, after the police did not seek her further custody for interrogation. The other two co-accused, Nikita Jacob and Shantanu Muluk, have been granted interim anticipatory bail by the Bombay High Court earlier this week.

In a related development, the Delhi High Court on Friday observed that certain media coverage of the probe into the “toolkit” case against Ravi indicated “sensationalism and prejudicial reporting”. However, it refused to order removal of news content and tweets by the police already online. The court asked media houses to ensure that their reports related to the case were based on verified and authentic sources, though sources were not being asked to be revealed at present. It directed Ravi to ensure that people connected to her did not indulge in sending unnecessary or scandalising messages.

At the local court, the Delhi Police claimed that Ravi had “shifted the blame” to the other two accused, Muluk and Jacob. Alleging that Ravi has remained evasive during the questioning, the police said that they needed to confront her with the two co-accused. The police told the court that they had issued a notice to Muluk to join the investigation on 22. Appearing on behalf of Ravi, advocate Siddharth Agarwal said the case diary furnished by the police was not in accordance with law and was a sufficient ground for her immediate release.


Direction On Coverage
On Ravi’s petition that sought directions to the Delhi Police to not leak any material in relation to the investigation against her to the media, the Delhi HC said editorial teams should ensure that only such broadcasts are disseminated which had verified content.

Channel editors are to ensure proper editorial control so that the investigation is not hampered, the court said. Asking Ravi to ensure that people connected to her did not indulge in unnecessary messaging, the high court said it would ensure that the parties did not go on a maligning course during the investigation.