Anna University sexual assault case: SIT seizes phones of journalists over FIR leak

Chennai: The probe into the sexual assault of a girl student at Anna University has taken new turn with the all-women Special Investigation Team (SIT) bringing journalists, who predominantly report on crime stories, into the investigation ring.

The SIT has summoned at least 12 journalists to appear before it, besides confiscating smartphones of three scribes who showed themselves before the women IPS officers.

The journalists have been summoned for downloading the First Information Report (FIR) of the sexual assault case or posting it on social media, which police believe eventually led to the disclosure of the identity of the survivor, a second year engineering student, in public domain.

The “leak” of the “poorly-drafted” FIR, which many felt looked like blaming the survivor, led to a major row with the Madras High Court coming down heavily on the Chennai Police for their “oversight” and asking the SIT to probe this aspect as well, along with the sexual assault.

“Summons have been issued to 12 journalists. Three of them appeared before the SIT after which their phones were seized. The remaining seven are yet to appear before the investigating team,” a source in the know told DH. It is believed at least three YouTubers have also been summoned.

Chennai Press Club (CPC), which condemned the “high-handedness” of the police, is contemplating to move the judiciary to quash the summons issued to journalists. A delegation from the CPC has sought time to meet Director General of Police Shankar Jiwal on Thursday and in connection with the issue.

All journalists who have been summoned by the police work for television channels, newspapers, and weekly magazines. In total, 14 persons accessed the FIR, out of which about eight are journalists, the sources said, adding that the summons are against the law as the scribes downloaded the document as part of their work.

A couple of journalists and news organisations did post the FIR on social media without masking the identity of the survivor, inviting all-round criticism. CPC general secretary M Haseef told DH that seizing the phones of journalists amounts to obstruction from carrying on with their duties and is aimed at intimidating law abiding people who have appeared before the police.

A journalist, whose phone was confiscated, told DH that the SIT didn’t limit the inquiry to the sexual assault case but sought details of his family, properties he and his family own, and other personal information. “Though the officers behaved well, I don’t understand the need to summon scribes. And some of the questions were deeply personal and completely unrelated to the probe,” the journalist added.

Police said the journalists were summoned under Sections 179 and 94 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) on the suspicion that they might have knowledge of the case.

The FIR leak was due to a technical glitch on the website designed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC). People can downloads FIRs from the website, except in cases filed under five sensitive sections, but the Anna University sexual assault case FIR was accessible for some time for downloading.

The Madras High Court on Wednesday late night asked the journalists to approach the Supreme Court for any relief since the apex court is hearing the matter.