New Delhi, January 19: The Delhi Court on Saturday came down heavily on Delhi Police for filing a chargesheet against former Jawaharlal Nehru University students’ union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar and 9 others in a sedition case without any approval from the legal department. According to a tweet by ANI, the Court said, "You don’t have approval from the legal department, why did you file chargesheet without approval?”. The Delhi Police told the court that it will get approval in 10 days.
The Court has now fixed the matter for 6th February 2019 and has asked the Delhi Police to get required sanction approval by then. Nearly three years after former Kumar and 9 others were accused of raising anti-India slogans, the Delhi Police on January 14 charged them with sedition. The Police stated that Kumar was leading a procession and supported seditious slogans raised on the varsity campus during an event in February 2016. Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid Charged With Sedition in JNU Case Chargesheet.
Here's the tweet:
JNU sedition case: Delhi Court asks Police 'You don't have approval from legal department, why did you file chargesheet without approval?' Delhi Police says will get sanction approval in 10 days
— ANI (@ANI) January 19, 2019
According to a report by PTI, Kumar, the former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union(JNUSU) termed the filing of the charge sheet as "politically motivated" as it comes just months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. JNU Sedition Row: Umar Khalid Issues Statement, Says Chargesheet Against Us Part of Centre's 'Symphony of Lies'.
The report further states that the 1,200-page charge sheet was filed before Metropolitan Magistrate Sumit Anand who put it up for consideration before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate(CMM) on Tuesday. In the chargesheet, former JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya were also arrayed as accused. Kumar, Khalid and Bhattacharya were arrested and later got bail.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 19, 2019 01:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).