Delhi court reserved its order on the bail pleas of JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban till March 18.
Delhi court reserved its order on the bail pleas of JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban till March 18.
New Delhi: A Delhi Court, hearing the sedition charges against Jawaharlal Nehru University students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, on Wednesday reserved its order till March 18.
Umar and Anirban had allegedly raised anti-national slogans in the JNU campus at a cultural event organised on the death anniversary of terrorist Afzal Guru following which they surrendered before the police on February 24.
During the hearing, the Delhi Police counsel opposed the bail plea of the duo and stated that they did not only depend on the video footage, but also relied on the statements of 10 independent witness against both of them.
However, the counsel of the two JNU students maintained the Delhi Government's report suggested that the video was tampered with while asserting that citizens have the right to criticise the government and the same can't be termed as sedition.
Earlier, a high-level internal committee of the JNU had found 21 students guilty of holding a controversial event on the campus last month, which had led to the custody of JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others.
The committee has reportedly suggested that Kanhaiya, along with four other students, be rusticated from the varsity.
Kanhaiya, however, said on Tuesday that there was no mention of rustication in the report submitted by the panel.
The committee, in its unanimous report submitted to Vice-Chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar, has accused the students of violating university norms and rules by organising an event in the memory of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
The office of JNU's chief proctor would take further action by issuing show cause notices to the concerned students, including Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya.
Earlier last week, the varsity had revoked the suspension of eight students after the high-level probe panel submitted its report on the February 9 incident.
