JNU doctored video: Court asks Delhi Police to file report

New Delhi, May 26: A court here on Thursday asked Delhi Police to file a status report on investigation being carried out in the JNU sedition cases while hearing a complaint against three news channels which allegedly ran doctored videos of the controversy.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sumit Dass asked the Special Cell, which is probing the case, to file a status report while hearing a complaint filed by the Delhi government seeking action against Zee News, NewsX and India News for broadcasting alleged doctored videos of the February 9 incident at the JNU where "anti-India" slogans were said to have been raised.

The court fixed July 12 as next date of hearing.

The Delhi government has said that the accused knowingly and with malicious intent caused damage to JNU students and the university and disrupted communal harmony and security in Delhi by transmitting a forged, fabricated, doctored and altered video, which was shown as genuine.

"The accused people are therefore liable for prosecution under sections 465 (punishment for forgery) and 471 (using as genuine forged document or electronic record) of the Indian Penal Code," the counsel added.

In the plea, the government sought action against the editors-in-chief, managing directors and directors of the news channel and two companies - Zee News Media Corp Ltd and Information TV Pvt Ltd.

A magisterial report submitted to the Delhi government on March 2 said that "no direct link" had been found between JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and the anti-India sloganeering of February 9.

It said seven videos related to the JNU incident were sent to Truth Labs, Hyderabad, of which three were found to be doctored. "In those doctored versions, the video has been edited and voices added."

The report added that the role of Umar Khalid, another JNU student accused of raising anti-India slogans, needed to be further investigated.

On February 9, an event was organised at the JNU to commemorate the third anniversary of the execution of parliament terror attack convict Afzal Guru.

At the event, anti-India slogans were allegedly raised, following which Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on charges of sedition.

He was later granted bail for six months by the Delhi High Court on March 2, while Khalid and another JNU student, Anirban Bhattacharya, also got bail.

IANS