Delhi’s Patiala House Court on Monday, 15 March, ordered the Delhi Police to supply copies of the charge sheet to former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leaders Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, and the other accused after they appeared before a judge in connection with a controversial sedition case that was registered against them in 2016. The court will next assemble for scrutiny of documents on 7 April.
Khalid, who is currently in judicial custody in connection with the Delhi riots case, was also produced before the court on Monday.
The charge sheet filed by the Delhi Police claims that Kumar and others named in the case had raised seditious slogans at JNU on 9 February 2016. The slogans were allegedly raised at an event to mark the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
The students named in the charge sheet include Kumar, Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya, Aquib Hussain, Mujeeb Hussain Gattoo, Muneeb Hussain Gattoo, Umar Gul, Rayees Rasool, Basharat Ali and Khalid Bashir Bhatt.
What Happened in Court on Monday?
On behalf of Kumar, his counsel submitted that during the time of scrutiny, the court exempt him from personal appearance. However, the court said that it would consider his exemption from personal appearance on each day.
Further, as Aquib, Mujeeb, Umar Gul, Rayees Rasool, Basharat Ali, and Khalid Basheer were not arrested before the charge sheet, the court asked them to move bail applications. They have now been released on bail on personal bonds of Rs 25,000.
The summons were issued nearly a year after the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government sanctioned the prosecution of Kumar and others in February 2020 after being accused by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of shielding anti-national elements.
Kumar and the others have been charged with 124A (sedition) 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 465 (forgery), 471 (forging documents or electronic record), 143, 149 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting) and 120B (Criminal conspiracy).
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