Counsel for Rona Wilson sought to know the steps for relief if there was tampering of evidence
The advocate for one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case told the Bombay High Court on Monday that there was no connection between the Elgar Parishad event and the violence which took place later. The advocate sought to know the steps for relief if there was tampering of evidence.
Indira Jaising, representing Rona Wilson, told a Division Bench of Justices S.S. Shinde and N.J. Jamadar that this was a case of selective prosecution. She pointed out that the complaint in the case was made eight days after the event. The case was transferred from one department to another based on the transfer of the investigating officer and there was investigation being conducted by two police stations — Pune rural and Pune urban.
She said, “We want a judgment from this court on what is legal electronic evidence and what is not. If my computer is tampered with, what relief do I have? There are many types of reliefs possible. This is a case of selective prosecution.”
She went on to say, “Let us take search and seizure. You want to seize a book, you take it and seal it. That is not how computer evidence can be seized. There is nothing in the criminal laws for this. There needs to be an authoritative law. They have been in jail for three years. Do you have any legal evidence against them? They have only my hard disk and some letters from that hard disk, but it was not procured in a proper legal manner.”
She contended, “The sanctioning authority did not apply its mind while granting sanction. Was the sanction properly and legally granted? Suppose my device is tampered with, and I am prosecuted, where do I go to raise the issue of tampering?”
The court was hearing a petition filed by Mr. Wilson seeking to quash the chargesheet against him by stating that the electronic evidence against him is planted. The arguments will continue on August 4.
