NEW DELHI: Former JNU student leader Umar Khalid has alleged there was a ‘deliberate design’ by the media and a ‘concerted effort’ to prejudice opinion against him in a northeast Delhi riots case.
Khalid made the claim before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Dinesh Kumar during the hearing on his plea, in which he alleged a ‘vicious media trial’ by leaking of the supplementary charge sheet filed against him even before the court took cognisance.
Khalid said the alleged adversarial media reports, which painted him as guilty, were continuing and caused him deep distress. “The adversarial media reports, painting me not only as an accused but almost as guilty have continued. I want to point it out to you as it is causing me deep distress and clearly affecting my right to a fair trial. The fact that it is continuing even after me pointing it out to you, I see it as a deliberate design,” he alleged.
He further claimed that extracts from his alleged disclosure statement, which hold no value in the court of law, have been made into headlines. He pointed out that the alleged disclosure statement have ‘refused to sign’ written below his name. Referring to a media report which allegedly quoted the court saying that Khalid and co-accused Tahir Hussain conspired together, he claimed the media was propagating as if the court had said it when it had simply taken cognisance of the charge sheet.
(With PTI inputs)