Court delivers order via WhatsApp, gets blasted by Supreme Court
What's the story
In an extremely bizarre incident, the Supreme Court has pulled up a Jharkhand court for holding a trial in a criminal case involving two politicians through instant messaging app, WhatsApp. Calling the incident a "joke" the Supreme Court noted that such practices could not be tolerated in India's judicial system. Jharkhand has been given two weeks to respond. Here are the details.
Quote
A livid SC bench notes that WhatsApp trials are unacceptable
"We are here on the way of trial being conducted through WhatsApp. This cannot be done. What kind of a trial is this? Is this a joke?," said the livid Supreme Court bench to the counsel representing Jharkhand.
What case?
Details of the case which saw the WhatsApp trial
The case involves a former Jharkhand minister, Yogendra Sao, and his MLA wife, Nirmala Devi, who have a total of 30 cases pending against them for rioting in 2016. The duo was accused in a case relating to violent clashes between police and villagers, which saw four people die. Additionally, Devi was involved in an agitation against NTPC for forcefully evacuating villagers without compensation/rehabilitation.
WhatsApp call
In April, the duo was charged via WhatsApp call
Last year, the Supreme Court granted bail to the duo, under the condition that they would stay in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, and would only enter Jharkhand to attend court proceedings. However, among the other cases pending against the duo in Jharkhand, a local court framed charges against them on April 19, via a WhatsApp call, despite Sao and Devi's objections to it.
Proceedings
The duo had violated their bail conditions
After the Supreme Court lambasted the counsel representing Jharkhand, the counsel said that the duo had not been adhering to the conditions on which they were given bail. To this, the apex court replied it had "no sympathy" towards people who violate conditions of bail, and that a separate application should have been filed seeking cancelation of bail.
SC's notice
The Supreme Court has issued a notice to Jharkhand
The Supreme Court has now issued a legal notice to Jharkhand on a plea by both Sao and Devi that has sought to transfer their case from Jharkhand to New Delhi. The bench observed that the duo were lawmakers when cases were filed against them, and that they should be tried in the special Delhi court that exclusively deals with cases involving politicians.