News
JNU sedition case: Why did you file chargesheet without approval, court asks Delhi Police
A Delhi court on Saturday questioned the Delhi Police for filing a charge sheet against former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar and others in the 2016 JNU sedition case without procuring the requisite sanctions.
The police told Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat they will procure the required sanctions within 10 days.
“Why did you file (the charge sheet) without approval? You don’t have a legal department,” the court said.
The court is likely to resume hearing on the matter soon.
The Delhi Police had on January 14 filed a 1200 page charge sheet at a city court against Kumar and others, saying he was leading a procession and supported seditious slogans raised on the varsity campus during an event in February 2016.
Seven Kashmiris have also been named in the charge sheet.
The filing of the charge sheet was criticized by politicians of various ideologies.
Former IAS officer Shah Faesal while reacting to the Sedition charges slapped on Kanhaiya Kumar and others in the JNU case, said that it was a travesty of free speech.
Earlier, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal demanded that the sedition law, which is a colonial hangover, should be scrapped as those in power are ‘manipulating’ it.
Sibal’s call comes days after JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and others were slapped sedition charges in a charge sheet filed in the court. Seven Kashmiris have also been named in a 1200 page chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police.
ALSO READ: JNU ‘Sedition’ Case: What happened, the 1200 page chargesheet and Afzal Guru
PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti questioned the timing of filing of charge sheet and said that Kashmiris are being used to score political points ahead of Lok Sabha elections.
The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) while condemned the charge-sheet against seven Kashmiri students in the 2016 sedition case said that for electoral gains, New Delhi is playing vindictive politics.
