JNU row: SC sends Kanhaiya case to Delhi HC

Police defends inaction against lawyers

The Supreme Court on Friday transferred the bail plea of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar to the Delhi high court and asked it to expeditiously deal with the matter. It declined to entertain the petition at this stage, saying its direct intervention would be a dangerous proposition. Mr Kumar’s lawyers, Sushil Bajaj and Vrinda Grover, who were escorted by the Delhi police, directly went to the high court’s listing registrar, Loren Bamniyal, and mentioned the petition behind closed doors. Soon after the apex court order, security in and around the high court was beefed up with the deployment of additional police personnel and CRPF jawans. The matter is yet to be listed before a bench of the high court for hearing. Defying police summons, scores of lawyers, including those who allegedly assaulted Mr Kanhaiya Kumar, students, teachers and journalists on separate occasions, held a protest march around India Gate, demanding action against those “indulging” in “anti-India” activities.

Defending its inaction against unruly men in lawyers’ robes who had attacked Mr Kumar and others at the Patiala House court complex, the Delhi police is said to have told the Union home ministry that past experience has shown that men in uniform have been on the receiving end whenever they have confronted lawyers in the city and other states.

The Modi government again faced more flak from the Opposition over the escalating JNU row with the chief ministers of Bihar and Delhi alleging it has triggered an emotional issue to “hide its failure” on the economic front and that opposing the BJP and RSS has become the “biggest crime”. Parliamentarians, including CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI general secretary S. Sudhakar Reddy, petitioned President Pranab Mukherjee for the release of Mr Kumar and the withdrawal of sedition cases against all students. Condemning the attack launched by the RSS-BJP against the Left and other democratic and secular forces, they told the President that it was clear that by spreading the canard of being “anti-national”, the RSS and BJP have mounted an all-India attack against the Indian people.

Contrary to police claims, Mr Kumar’s medical examination report showed that he had received external injuries during the attack on him at the Patiala House court complex.

Earlier on Friday, a bench of Justices J. Chelameswar and A.M. Sapre, while agreeing with the submissions that Mr Kumar’s plea was an ordinary case, however, observed that if in every case it is said that only the Supreme Court should hear it, it would set a dangerous precedent and open the floodgates for others.

Soon after the matter was taken up senior counsel C.U. Singh, appearing for advocate Subash Chandran, alleged that the complaint filed by his client was not registered as an FIR. He alleged that extremist organisations like the RSS were involved in the incidents.

Justice Chelameswar said: “We are not interested in who created or designed this. We are interested in their safety and life.” The bench then asked Mr Singh to file a fresh petition confining the averments to the relief sought. Then it proceeded to hear the bail plea of Mr Kanhaiya Kumar.

Justice Chelameswar told a battery of senior lawyers arguing that the bail plea be entertained that “assuming exclusive jurisdiction over the case will send a wrong impression to lower courts that they are incapable of handling it”.

At India Gate, scores of lawyers held a protest march demanding action against those “indulging” in “anti-India” activities. The lawyers, mostly from the Patiala House courts and several other district courts, marched aggressively around the India Gate circle, shouting slogans and waving the tricolour in the presence of heavy police security. Some of the lawyers caught on camera leading brazen assaults on journalists and JNU students on Monday and Wednesday were part of the protest and appeared to be unfazed by the outrage due to their acts.

The Modi government faced more flak from the Opposition. After his Cabinet meeting in Patna, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said: “Since they have failed miserably on the economic front after making tall claims during the 2014 parliamentary elections, they (BJP and RSS) have triggered an emotional issue (JNU event) to hide the failure.” The Bihar CM once again attacked the Centre for levelling the charge of sedition on JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar without any evidence. “If they have any evidence that justifies Kanhaiya Kumar’s arrest on sedition charge why do not they make it public JNU is their (BJP and RSS) target because there is a negligible percentage of people who believe in saffron ideology.”

In another tweet, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said, “Centre’s new IPC — rape, murder or beat anyone. When questioned, just say that victim was shouting anti-India slogans, u will be let off.” Though Mr Kejriwal did not name anyone, he was apparently referring to the Centre’s alleged inaction against BJP legislator O.P. Sharma and the lawyers who were caught on camera beating people outside the Patiala House court complex where a hearing of Mr Kanhaiya Kumar’s case took place on Monday. Mr Sharma was arrested on Thursday in connection with the incident, but was given bail later in the day.

The CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury and CPI’s S. Sudhakar Reddy, along with five other MPs — Pawan Verma of the JD(U), D.P. Tripathi of the NCP, Mohammed Salim of CPI(M), Premchand Gupta of the RJD and D Raja of CPI — urged the President to immediately intervene to defuse the situation and prevail upon the Indian government to withdraw from this dangerous course that it has adopted. In their petition, the leaders said: “We are appealing to you, as the custodian of the Indian Constitution, to urgently intervene to defend the people’s constitutional rights that are being trampled upon today.”

Meanwhile, a source said that a medical examination report confirmed that Mr Kanhaiya Kumar had sustained external injuries — multiple abrasions on his left foot and nose, apart from tenderness in his left toe — during the attack on him at the Patiala House court complex.

A petition was also filed in the Delhi high court accusing Delhi police commissioner B.S. Bassi of “influencing” the probe in the sedition case against the JNU student leader and alleging that the police chief was “playing at the hands (sic)” of certain political parties. The petition, which is likely to come up for hearing on Monday, alleged that Mr Bassi’s statement to media that the police would not oppose Mr Kanhaiya Kumar’s bail plea may influence fair and transparent investigation of the matter as well as court proceedings.