A Delhi court on Thursday refused to direct TV channels to preserve footage of news items relating to the 2008 serial blasts in the capital allegedly carried out by suspected Indian Mujahideen members, who wanted to use them for defence during trial.
One of the arrested accused of the serial blasts wanted the court to issue direction to TV channels to preserve the news footage of ten days since September 13, 2008.
The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja dismissed the plea of suspected IM militant Zia-ur-Rehman after his counsel M S Khan made a plea in this regard.
Earlier, special public prosecutor Rajiv Mohan opposed Rehman’s contention stating that there was no statutory provision for such purpose.
The records that were sought to be preserved included video clippings, statement of witnesses and other material telecast betweem September 13 and 19, 2008, the day Batla House encounter took place in south Delhi leading to arrest of prime accused Mohd Saif and Zeeshan Ahmed.
Meanwhile, the court allowed a plea of Rehman and co-accused Mohd Shakeel seeking a copy of the compact disc containing the data and images allegedly retrieved from laptop and mobile phones of accused Atif Ameen, killed in the Batla House encounter in Delhi on September 19 last year.
The court also directed that the compact disc will be in the custody of lawyers, who had given an undertaking that it will not be distributed further as it contained communally sensitive matter.
In the meantime, the court also issued fresh warrant against 11 accused for October 30.
Out of the 12 accused, Mohd Hakim was produced before the court which remanded him to judicial custody till October 30.
The 11 accused are at present lodged at Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad for their alleged role in serial blasts of July 26 last year there.
Many of them are also wanted in Jaipur serial blasts cases and Hyderabad twin blasts.
A series of blasts had rocked the national capital on September 13 last year, killing 26 persons and injuring 135 others.
Accused Mohd Saif, Zeeshan Ahmed, Mohd Shakeel, Zia-ur Rehman, Saquib Nissar, Quamuddin Kapadia, Mohd Sadiq Sheikh, who have been charge-sheeted in blasts cases here, are at present in Ahmedabad.
Other accused, Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy, Mobin Kader Sheikh, Akbar Ismail Chaudhary and Asif Basir Sheikh, who are accused of sending terror emails to different media organisations just minutes before the serial blasts, have also been taken to Ahmedabad.
