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HC stays telefilm on `Parliament attack'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI Dec. 12. The Delhi High Court today stayed the broadcast of a telefilm, reportedly a reconstruction of the December 13 attack on Parliament, by Zee Television. Counsels for the accused, Sima Gulati and Nitya Ramakrishnan, acting on a press preview of the film, argued that it would vitiate their clients' right to a fair trial and could prejudice the outcome of the case, the verdict of which has been deferred to December 16.

The High Court ruled that Zee Television would have to move an application before the trial court (the special POTA court) and its judge, S. N. Dhingra, before passing an order, would have to serve notice to the accused and give them a fair hearing.

The 40-minute film, which was to have been broadcast on Zee Television's regional Alpha channels, is based on the police chargesheet, and has been endorsed by the head of Delhi Police's Special Cell. He said it was "like reliving our investigation.'' Also present at the special screening of the film, which followed the press conference announcing the planned broadcast, was Delhi's Police Commissioner, R. S. Gupta.

The film, which was made in 16 days, does not deal with the trial which has taken place over the last six months. None of the accused or their defence counsels has seen the film. Ms. Gulati said that a film based on one version of events "amounts to a pronouncement of the accused's guilt, which they have no right to do.'' In response to a question at Wednesday's press conference about the one-sidedness of the film, Laxmi Goel of Zee News said that his channel accepted the police version of events.

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