Jyoti Rani’s lawyer Kumar Mukesh vows to fight her espionage case despite facing online trolling. He asserts she is innocent until proven guilty under Indian law.
YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, also known as Jyoti Rani, who is currently lodged in jail on charges of espionage against India, has finally appointed a lawyer to represent her in the ongoing legal proceedings in the Hisar District Court of Haryana.
Advocate Kumar Mukesh, a journalist-turned-lawyer, has taken up the responsibility of defending her in the case. The first hearing in the case is scheduled to take place on June 9 in Hisar court.
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Mr. Mukesh has already submitted his Vakalatnama—formal authorization to represent Jyoti—to the court. He informed the media that Jyoti, who is in judicial custody, has signed the legal paperwork needed for his appointment.
he said,
“At that time, the Vakalatnama could not be signed,”
referring to the initial delay when Jyoti’s father Harish Malhotra had first approached him. Now that all formalities are complete, the legal proceedings are set to move forward.
Speaking about the next legal steps,
Mr. Mukesh said,
“We will begin with the bail process.”
However, he noted that the complete set of case-related documents has not yet been received.
he explained,
“A copy of the documents has not been received yet, and the situation will be clear after receiving the documents,”
The lawyer added,
“In two to three days, after studying the entire case, a bail petition will be filed.”
Meanwhile, Advocate Mukesh has come under heavy attack on social media platforms for taking up Jyoti’s case. Trolls have labelled him as “anti-national” and targeted him for defending someone accused of espionage.
Speaking to Media over phone, Mr. Mukesh said,
“I don’t have any problem. My enthusiasm is not affected. But my family might feel harassed and there could be pressure on me from my family at some point,” reiterating the principle that “as per the Indian law, Jyoti is innocent till the time she is convicted.”
He also stated that he has moved the court to obtain the remand papers and investigation report to understand the evidence on record against his client.
the journalist-turned-lawyer said,
“I don’t have any problem. My enthusiasm is not affected. But my family might feel harassed and there could be pressure on me from my family at some point,”
reminding that
“as per the Indian law, Jyoti is innocent till the time she is convicted.”
According to police sources, Jyoti was arrested on May 17 and later remanded to 14 days of judicial custody on May 26 by Judicial Magistrate First Class Sunil Kumar, after nine days of police remand.
She is accused of sharing sensitive information with a Pakistani officer and is alleged to have visited Pakistan twice. The case is being investigated by the CID Crime Branch.
In the press statement released by the police, it was clarified that so far, there is no evidence to suggest Jyoti had access to classified military or defence information, nor any confirmed links with terrorist organisations.
During the initial investigation, Jyoti informed the police that in 2023 she had gone to the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi to apply for a visa. There, she met a person named Ahsan-ur-Rahim, who also goes by the alias Danish.
Police allege that she was in regular contact with him and even met him in Delhi. As per IGP Sarthak Sarangi,
“We have just received information that YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra visited Puri’s Jagannath temple and posted a video regarding it on Instagram.”
He added,
“She also visited Chilika and Konark. She was in touch with a YouTuber from Odisha.”
The IGP also confirmed,
“We are verifying all the facts. We are in touch with our counterparts in Haryana regarding Jyoti Malhotra.”
Advocate Mukesh shared more about Jyoti’s background, stating,
“Jyoti has made videos for her YouTube channel at different places and has also gone abroad with a visa.”
ALSO READ: How YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra Was Tricked into Spying for Pakistan – One Name Stands Out
He met Jyoti in jail on Tuesday and said he would comment on the merits of the case only after reviewing the documents from the court.
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