'Citizens have right to know about the affairs of society'

New Delhi: The Delhi Police has filed a status report in response to a petition filed by Pinjra Tod activist Devangana Kalita, seeking the court's direction to the Delhi Police to not leak any allegations to the media pertaining to the petitioner, pending investigation and thereafter during the trial.

The Delhi Police in its response filed through Central government standing counsel Amit Mahajan has stated the reason behind the sharing of the "brief note" by the investigators to the media.

"The brief note dated 02.06.2020 is required to be seen in this context which was in furtherance of the right of the citizen to know about the affairs of the society and the right of the journalist to ensure an informed society," the police said.

Interestingly, Kalita's lawyer had specifically filed the petition to restrain such action because Delhi Police allegedly put only selective information about an accused or case which would prejudice the accused.

Moreover, the Delhi Police has in recent times also called journalists for "joining the investigation" after they published a report on its own probe into the Tablighi Jamaat case.

Kalita, who is currently in judicial custody in Tihar Jail in a case relating to Delhi riots, had earlier approached the high court seeking court's direction to the Delhi Police to not leak any information. Following this plea, the high court had passed an interim order restraining the Delhi Police from circulating information, including to the media or on social media platforms.