WhatsApp assured the Jharkhand High Court on Friday that it would fully cooperate in the investigation into the murder of the Dhanbad Additional District Judge. Last Monday, the high court ordered the CBI to make WhatsApp's CEO a party in the case and served it with a notice.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for WhatsApp, told a division bench of Chief Justice Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad that the Facebook-owned business is eager to assist in the inquiry into the murder of judge Uttam Anand. Sibal told the court that the corporation can provide any chat data needed for the investigation.
The bench has agreed to hear the case again in a week's time. The bench was considering a suo moto public interest litigation filed by the high court following the death of the judge on July 28, 2021, when he was run over by an autorickshaw while out jogging.
Last week, the CBI's counsel informed the court that the CBI had requested WhatsApp chat records of the two accused persons apprehended in the case, but had been denied access due to security and privacy restrictions. The company was then listed as a respondent in the case by the bench.
The death of Judge Anand triggered a hornet's nest, with the Supreme Court and the high court adopting a hard line on the case and closely monitoring the investigation. In this case, two people have been arrested: Lakhan Verma and Rahul Verma, and a charge sheet has been issued.
BACKGROUND
Anand, the 49-year-old additional district judge, died after being hit by an autorickshaw when he was out for a morning walk in Dhanbad on July 28 last year.
The first chargesheet in the killing of Dhanbad Judge Uttam Anand has been filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The agency has accused auto-rickshaw driver Lakhan Verma and his brother Rahul Verma with murder, false information, and common intention under Sections 302 (murder), 201 (false information), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The agency is still probing the "larger conspiracy" behind the death of Judge Uttam Anand.
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