JNU row: SC to hear plea on Patiala House Court scuffle

Students' union chief Kanhaiya Kumar, whose remand ends today, to be produced in court.

Jawaharlal Nehru University students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar will be produced before Delhi court on Wednesday as his two-day police custody ends and the Supreme Court will also hear a plea seeking a fair trial \"free from fear of violence and prejudice\" for Kumar.

Kumar will again be produced before the Metropolitan Magistrate at Patiala House court complex, which had earlier witnessed violence during his hearing.

Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested last week on charges of sedition for allegedly chanting anti-India, pro-Afzal Guru slogans at an event in JNU. However, he was given a clean chit by Delhi police who stated that Kumar was not involved in any anti-India sloganeering on campus.

The petition was filed by N D Jaiprakash, who alleged that police were a \"mute spectator to this brazen display of violence and brute force being perpetrated on innocent persons\".

\"This petition merely seeks to assure safety of the accused, their relatives, friends, lawyers and journalists while discharging their legal as well as professional obligations. The surcharged and vicious atmosphere in the Court premises would come in the way of the fundamental right of the accused for a fair trial,\" the plea said.

The petition, which was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief J T S Thakur by senior advocate Indira Jaising, also demanded that the security measures in the court complex should be such that no person becomes victim of violence.

The petition said the violence witnessed in the court not only endangered the life of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested in a case of sedition, but also prevented journalists from carrying out their work of reporting court proceedings.

Hundreds of journalists held a protest march against the attack on mediapersons covering the hearing of a sedition case in which the JNU students' union president has been arrested and demanded that the culprits be brought to book.

The scribes, representing various journalist bodies, took out a march from the Press Club to the Supreme Court raising slogans in support of freedom of expression and against alleged police inaction during the incident yesterday.

A delegation of journalists also met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and sought a thorough probe into the incident and strict action against those involved in the assault at the Patiala House Court Complex.

The journalists questioned the \"silence of police\" over the attack on students and scribes and dubbed it an insult to the judiciary as the incident took place inside a court complex.

Journalists, students and teachers of JNU were beaten up allegedly by groups of lawyers, drawing criticism from the press amidst calls for the Home Ministry to look into the \"dereliction of duty\" by police, which has been accused of being a \"mute spectator\" during the incident.

The journalist bodies said it was a matter of \"great concern\" that attacks on mediapersons are \"going up\". Police have said two FIRs have been registered against unnamed persons in connection with the attack.

Earlier, Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi said the alleged negligence on the part of police is being probed and the guilty will face legal action.