JNU row: Delhi High Court rejects plea for NIA probe

The Delhi high court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking NIA probe in the JNU sedition case in which anti-India slogans were allegedly raised, saying the plea was “premature” as the police is already investigating the matter.

“It is an inicident of February 9. The Delhi police is probing the matter. Let the police investigate first. We cannot step in unless necessary,” a bench of Justice Manmohan said, adding, “The present writ petition is premature and is dismissed.”

During the hearing, the counsel, appearing for petitioner Ranjana Agnihotri, told the court that this is a serious and sensitive matter as anti-India slogans were raised inside the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus.

Advocate Hari Shankar Jain, the counsel for the petitioner, argued that sovereignty and integrity of the country were threatened by a few students and people associated with the university and “hostile foreign forces” were trying to destabilise the country.

The bench, however, observed, “We are not politicians. We just cannot jump into things. The investigation is on.”