Pinjra Tod member in Delhi HC, seeks headphones in jail to maintain privacy in communicating with lawyer

NEW DELHI: A member of Pinjra Tod group, who was arrested in a case related to the communal violence in northeast Delhi, Wednesday urged the Delhi high court to direct the Tihar jail to provide her headphones to maintain privacy of the conversation between her and the counsel over video conferencing. JNU student Devangana Kalitha, who is in jail since May 23, also sought that the facility of video conferencing be provided to her counsel twice a week for half an hour each subject to the availability of the facilities and equitable use by other inmates.
Justice Vibhu Bakhru was informed by her counsel that these issues were also raised by another woman member of Pinjra Tod (Break the Cage) group Natasha Narwal and another bench of the high court has passed an order on it.
The judge listed the matter for July 3, after Kalitha's advocate Adit S Pujari said the matter be deferred as the order passed in the other case has not been uploaded as yet.
The high court noted that the status report filed by the Tihar Jail authorities indicate that most of the grievances of the accused have been redressed.
Besides video conferencing and headphones, Kalitha has also sought for the provision of facility to share the documents online since they are required for preparation of her defence and that books be not limited to academic books but even those which are available in the jail in accordance with prison rules.
In her plea, Kalitha has also sought permission to communicate with her family regularly as per the provisions of the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018.
It is pertinent to mention that legal interviews of inmates with their lawyers in-person were suspended in Delhi prisons in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In Narwal's plea, the Tihar jail authorities had told the high court on Tuesday that efforts will be made to provide her legal interviews with her lawyer for 30 minutes, twice a week, via video conferencing.
The prison authorities also said they have no objection to Narwal sourcing books from outside, provided the material does not infract any provision of the jail rules.
As per the jail manual, an undertrial is allowed 10 minutes of legal interview with his/ her counsel twice a week.
Pinjra Tod (Break the Cage) was founded in 2015 with an aim to make hostels and paying guest accommodations less restrictive for women students.
Kalitha and Narwal, who are currently lodged in Tihar jail under judicial custody, were arrested by the Delhi Police on May 23 in connection with a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in North East Delhi's Jafrabad area in February.
On May 24, they were granted bail by the trial court in the case, but moments later the Delhi Police crime branch had moved an application seeking to interrogate them and formally arrest them in a separate case.
They were also arrested in a third case related to their alleged roles in the north-east Delhi violence matter.
The case in which Kalitha and Narwal were arrested on May 23 was registered for the alleged offences of rioting, obstructing public servant and disobedience of order, abetment of an offence, wrongful restraint and assaulting or using criminal force to deter public servant from discharging duty under the Indian Penal Code.
The case in which they were arrested on May 24 was registered for the alleged offences of rioting, unlawful assembly, assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty, voluntarily causing hurt, murder, attempt to murder and criminal criminal conspiracy under the IPC, relevant sections of the Arms Act and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.