Bhima Koregaon case: Arsenal Consultancy has no locus standi to give opinion in Shoma Sen’s plea, says NIA

The digital forensic analyst said false evidence was planted against the retired professor to implicate her in the case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) told the Bombay High Court on Thursday that Arsenal Consultancy, a digital forensic analyst that said false evidence was planted against retired Prof. Shoma Sen who is an accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence case, has “no locus standi to give opinion without court's permission”. The affidavit was filed before a Division Bench of justices S.S. Shinde and N.J. Jamadar in the petition filed by Ms. Sen relying on the Arsenal Consultancy report and seeking to quash three chargesheets against her in the case. Vikram Khalate, superintendent of police, NIA, raised questions on the maintainability of the petition and said, the NIA as an investigating agency came into picture on January 24, 2020, after the registration of FIR against her. “The officer denies the report filed by Arsenal Consultancy and by the American Bar Association. The sanction to prosecute her was granted one day before the chargesheets were filed. All contentions raised by the petitioner [Ms. Sen] are entirely based on the basis of the report by Arsenal Consultancy. This report does not form part of the chargesheets filed by the Pune Police and the NIA,” reads the affidavit.