JNU Sedition Case: Court to Review Footage, Next Hearing on 11 Mar

Umar Khaled (left) and Kanhaiya Kumar of Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.

(Photo: The Quint)

Delhi’s Patiala House Court on Thursday, 28 February, said it will review video footage in the sedition case filed against former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and others.

The next date of the hearing has been set for 11 March, ANI reported.

The sedition case pertains to the alleged raising of anti-national slogans during an event held in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on 9 February 2016, to mark the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Videos from the event were used to claim that anti-national slogans were raised in the university.

In January, Delhi Police had filed a charge sheet in the sedition case, three years after the incident.

The court, however, had refused to take cognisance in the absence of a prosecution sanction.

It had also asked the police why the charge sheet was filed without procuring the requisite sanctions from the Delhi government under Section 196 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

Delhi Police had subsequently sought permission from the city government for prosecution in the case, which is still pending.

Row Over ‘Delay’

The "delay" in sanctioning the prosecution by the AAP government had led to protests by BJP MLAs in the Delhi Assembly.

Three BJP MLAs had to be marshalled out of the Assembly on the first day of the Budget session, on 22 February, for interrupting Lt Governor Anil Baijal's address with their protests, PTI reported.

Speaker Ram Niwas Goel had tried to reason with the legislators, saying the L-G’s address is not a part of proceedings of the House, but they did not relent.

The three MLAs – Leader of the House Vijender Gupta, O P Sharma and Jagdish Pradhan – had gone into the well of the House, after which Goel ordered them to be marshalled out.

Gupta charged the government with "delaying" the sanction for prosecution.

"We sought a reply from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for not giving prosecution sanction (to the Delhi Police) in the JNU sedition case, because the L-G was present there. We wanted the CM's reply before the L-G, but he kept mum, and we were marshalled out," Gupta had tweeted in Hindi.

Reacting to BJP legislators’ protest, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said that Opposition members should have respected the Lt Governor.

"Opposition members have a problem. Despite the Speaker requesting them that the L-G's address is not a part of the House proceedings and asking them to raise it during government works, they continued with their protest," Sisodia had told reporters, as per PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)