Court Orders Investigation into Social Media Leak in Zubeen Garg Case
Court Directs CID to Investigate Media Leak
Baksa District Jail (Photo - @himantabiswa / X)
Guwahati, Sept 12: The Fast Track Sessions Court in Kamrup (Metro) has instructed the CID of Assam to investigate the unauthorized sharing of a prosecution witness's statement on social media in the Zubeen Garg death case. Additionally, the court has ordered the Inspector General of Prisons, Assam, to take necessary actions against the Superintendent of Baksa District Jail for submitting documents with an accused's signature that were not authorized by the court.
This directive was issued during the proceedings of sessions case number 256/2025, where seven individuals, including Siddharth Sharma, Shyamkanu Mahanta, and Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, are on trial.
The matter was raised when the victim's counsel, Pradipta Talukdar, informed the court that two Facebook pages, 'The Truth' and 'Assam Talks Digital', had published the statement of witness Prateem Lahkar, complete with a copy that included the signature and seal of the Magistrate who recorded it.
Upon reviewing the posts, the Special Public Prosecutor noted that the actions of these media platforms seemed to disrupt the judicial process and warranted intervention.
After considering the evidence and arguments, the court remarked that the actions of the two media outlets appeared to interfere with the justice system. Consequently, it directed the CID to investigate how these platforms acquired the witness's statement and to report back with findings and necessary legal actions.
Furthermore, the court addressed concerns regarding the Superintendent of Baksa District Jail, who had submitted documents signed by accused Shyamkanu Mahanta. The court clarified that these documents were not the ones it had sent.
The court instructed the Jail Superintendent to ensure that Mahanta only signs documents that have been officially sent by the court and to resend these documents along with the originals via email.
In addition, the court has mandated the IG of Prisons, Assam, to take appropriate legal action against the Superintendent and to provide a report on the measures taken.
All seven accused have been remanded to judicial custody until September 14, with further cross-examination of witness-118 scheduled for that date, during which the accused will appear via video conferencing.