2020 Delhi Riots: Court Says WhatsApp Chats Cannot be Substantive Evidence in Murder Cases

New Delhi: A Delhi court has ruled that WhatsApp chats cannot be “substantive evidence” and said that at best, such chats can be used as “a corroborative piece of evidence”.

The court made the ruling in relation to five murder cases lodged during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. In all five cases, 12 accused were common and the prosecution had relied heavily on WhatsApp chats as evidence, reported Indian Express.

The five cases are among nine cases which were filed for the murder of nine men, whose bodies were recovered a week after the riots. Till now, of the remaining four cases, one has ended in acquittal while trial is ongoing in the rest three.

The Delhi Police had primarily relied on the chats of a WhatsApp group named ‘Kattar Hindu Ekta’ in all five cases. Multiple chargesheets also named this group.

According to the chargesheet, one of the accused, Lokesh Solanki, allegedly wrote on the WhatsApp group: “Your brother has killed 2 Muslim men at 9 o’clock.”

Solanki’s questioning had led to the arrest of other persons, who were eventually accused of the nine murders.

“Such posts may be put in the group solely with the intention of becoming a hero in the estimation of other members of the group. It could be a boast, without truth. Therefore, the relied upon chats cannot be substantive evidence to show that the accused… had actually killed two Muslim persons. These chats at the most could be used as a corroborative piece of evidence,” said additional sessions judge Pulastya Pramachala of Karkardooma Court while acquitting the accused.

Earlier, the court had said in another judgement on April 30 that in connection with a case pertaining to the murder of one Hashim Ali, there were no eyewitnesses to the murder, and subsequently acquitted 12 accused.

“They (WhatsApp chats) cannot form the sole basis for conviction due to their inherent weaknesses and they must be supported by independent, reliable evidence,” the court had said.

It added that except for one witness, no one else claimed to have seen the incident.

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