Delhi High Court seeks from Centre the status of the probe against climate activist Disha Ravi

No charge sheet till now

Senior counsel Akhil Sibal appeared on behalf of the petitioner and informed the court that a charge sheet was yet to be filed by the investigation agency and the issue of “taking down” certain posts against her as well as the issue of media reporting on her purported statements during custodial investigation still remained.

He also informed the court that while the petitioner was on bail, the issue of the constitutional validity of the sedition law was also pending before the Supreme Court.

Disha Ravi is accused of creating and sharing an online document described as a “toolkit”. She allegedly created and shared it with climate activist Greta Thunberg.

She reportedly shared the online document to support to the farmers’ protest opposing the three new farm laws in Delhi.

Ravi was arrested by the Delhi Police from her residence in Bengaluru on 13 February, 2021, for sharing on social media the “toolkit” related to the farmers’ protest against the Centre’s now-repealed three farm laws.

She was granted bail by a trial court in Delhi on 23 February, 2021.

Charges against Ravi

The Delhi Police registered the FIR against Ravi on the charges of sedition, provocation with intent to cause violence and promoting enmity between different groups, among other charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

As per some news reports, the Delhi Police commenting on the matter had said, “The toolkit document contained details of a social media campaign and on-ground action to be conducted in January 2021, including the protesters entering the capital city.”

A police officer attached to Delhi Police told reporters in February 2021: “The main aim of the toolkit was to create misinformation and disaffection against the lawfully enacted government. The toolkit sought to artificially amplify the fake news through various tweets which they have created in the form of a tweet bank.”

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‘Police leaked investigative material’

In her petition before the high court, Disha has also sought to restrain the media from publishing the contents or extracts of any private chats, including those on WhatsApp, between her and third parties.

The activist claimed that the police first “leaked investigative material” — like alleged WhatsApp chats — the substance and details of which were only in the possession of the investigating agency.

In response, the Delhi Police said it did not leak any information to the media in relation to its probe in the FIR against the petitioner and the allegation that the information of chats of Ravi was leaked by the police was “false and factually incorrect”.

Ravi, in her plea, said she was “severely aggrieved and prejudiced by the media trial surrounding her arrest and the ongoing investigation, where she is being viscerally attacked by the respondent 1 (police) and several media houses”.

She claimed that her arrest from Bengaluru by a Cyber Cell team of the Delhi Police was “wholly unlawfully and without basis”.

She also contended that in the present circumstances, it was “highly likely” that the general public would perceive the news items “as being conclusive as to the guilt of the petitioner (Ravi)”.

The high court on 19 February, 2021, said certain media coverage of the investigation into the FIR against Ravi for her alleged involvement in sharing a toolkit backing farmers’ protest indicated “sensationalism and prejudicial reporting”, but declined to order the removal of any such content at that stage.

The issue of the removal of content that was already in the public domain would be considered at a later stage, it said.

(With PTI inputs)