The Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) on Tuesday expressed "shock" at the manner in which the Delhi police "revealed the contents of the order" on the bail application of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, "more than five hours prior to the order being pronounced" on July 2.
The statement referred to the July 2 hearing before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria, who heard Mr. Zubair's bail application and the Delhi police's plea seeking his judicial custody. After hearing arguments till around 1.30 p.m., the court broke for lunch and said it would pronounce the order after the break.
However, before the CMM returned to preside and pronounce the order, Special Cell (IFSO) DCP K.P.S. Malhotra sent out a broadcast message to journalists at around 2.30 p.m., declaring "bail rejected, 14 days judicial custody granted".
While Mr. Malhotra retracted this soon after Mr. Zubair's counsel publicly accused him of leaking the order, CCM Sarvaria pronounced the order around 7 p.m. that day that the bail plea had been rejected and that Mr. Zubair was to be sent to judicial custody.
The CJAR, whose members and patrons, include lawyers and activists like Prashant Bhushan, Mihir Desai, Anjali Bhardwaj, Annie Raja and others, said that Mr. Malhotra did not attempt to correct the record until Mr. Zubair's counsel had publicly accused him. Moreover, the body said that Mr. Malhotra's explanation that he "misheard his IO (Investigating Officer)" was "bizarre to put it mildly".
Serious questions
"This incident raises serious questions about the circumstances leading up to the pronouncement of the order and the interference of the Delhi Police in the judicial process. It appears that the Delhi police and the magistrate had a prior backdoor agreement outside of court as to the nature of the order that was to be pronounced," the CJAR statement said. The body, thus, sought "strict action" against officials responsible for this.
The CJAR added, "To reinforce the faith of the public in the judiciary and constitutional governance, the communication between the police and the judge and the perceived influence of the police over the judicial process needs a thorough independent probe, that must be conducted forthwith by the Delhi High Court."
The body also condemned the cases against Mr. Zubair, saying it felt "the Delhi police and the Uttar Pradesh police have been inappropriately invoking the law to persecute a fact-checker" and sought that these charges against him be dropped and that he is released.
