By PTI
RANCHI: Instant messaging giant WhatsApp on Friday assured the Jharkhand High Court of full cooperation in the investigation into the murder of the Dhanbad additional district judge.
The high court had last week directed the CBI to make the head of WhatsApp a party in the case and issued a notice to it.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibbal, appearing for WhatsApp, told a division bench of Chief Justice Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad that the Facebook-owned company is keen to help the investigation of judge Uttam Anand’s murder.
Sibbal told the court that any chat data required for the purpose of investigation can be procured from the company.
The bench has decided to hear the matter again after a week.
The bench was hearing a suo moto public interest litigation initiated by the high court after the death of the judge who was run over by an autorickshaw while he was out jogging on July 28, 2021.
The court was informed by the counsel of the CBI last week that it had sought WhatsApp chat details of the two accused persons arrested in the case, but was denied access over security and privacy policies.
The bench had then ordered the company to be added as a respondent in the case.
Judge Anand’s death had stirred up a hornet’s nest with the Supreme Court and the high court taking a strict view of the incident, and monitoring the investigation.
Two persons — Lakhan Verma and Rahul Verma — have been arrested in the case and a charge sheet has been filed.
