A special court in Haryana’s Gurugram has issued a non-bailable warrant of arrest against ABP News anchor Chitra Tripathi and Republic Bharat journalist Sayed Suhail in a 2013 POCSO case, according to LiveLaw.
The order came earlier this month as the court cancelled their bail and rejected their applications for exemption from personal appearance.
Additional district and sessions judge Ashwani Kumar Mehta has directed the SHO concerned to execute the warrant for November 30 and to appear in person if the warrants remain unexecuted, LiveLaw reported.
Tripathi’s counsel had sought exemption on the ground that she was travelling to cover the Maharashtra polls while Suhail’s lawyer said he was going to Kanpur to cover the UP bypolls. But the court pointed to the need to expedite the matter since it has already been delayed by nine years.
The complaint alleged that three news channels — News 24, India News, and News Nation — aired “edited”, “obscene” videos allegedly of the child and her family, and linked it to a sexual assault case against self-styled godman Asaram Bapu.
A total of 15 journalists who were then working with the three media houses were also booked in the case under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 469 and 471 (which relate to forgery) of the Indian Penal Code; section 67B (abusing children online) of the Information Technology Act; and section 13C (indecent or obscene representation of a child) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. These journalists included Chitra Tripathi, Deepak Chaurasia, and Ajit Anjum, among others.
Police had filed a chargesheet against eight journalists. The police also filed a closure report for five journalists, including two directors of India News and News 24.
Newslaundry had earlier reported all about the 2013 POCSO case against the news anchors. Read here.
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