Delhi Police relied on video clip tweeted by BJP leader for FIR, says Umar Khalid in court

Activist Umar Khalid on Monday argued before a Delhi court that the police relied on part of a video clip tweeted by a Bharatiya Janata Party leader and aired by news channels for its First Information Report against him. The court was hearing Khalid’s bail application in connection with an FIR lodged under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the Delhi riots conspiracy case.

“Clearly the Delhi police had nothing except Republic TV and News18,” Senior Advocate Trideep Pais, appearing for Khalid, said.

Pais said that he wrote to News18 and Republic TV seeking the raw footage of the speech they had aired on the channels. In response, News18 said that it did not have the raw footage and was taken from a tweet of a Bharatiya Janata Party leader.

Republic TV said that the source of the video was BJP’s Information Technology Cell head Amit Malviya, Pais told the court. “It is [a case of] copying the tweet from a politician and placing it as your own news item,” Pais argued.

Clashes had broken out between the supporters of the Citizenship Amendment Act and those opposing it between February 23 and February 26, 2020 in North East Delhi, claiming 53 lives and injuring hundreds. The police…

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