Delhi Police to HC

Earlier today, the Delhi High Court today came down hard on Delhi Police while hearing the bail application of Kanhaiya Kumar, the JNUSU president who has been in custody on sedition charges.

During the court hearing, Kanhaiya’s Lawyer Kapil Sibal told the High Court that he was there only to break the fight.

Even the Delhi Government counsel said no innocent should be jailed as there is no proof against Kumar and that he should not be held responsible for outsiders coming into the campus and raising anti-national slogans. There were police in plain clothes there.

Delhi Police, represented through Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta, told the bench that they do not have any video in this regard but there was evidence that the JNUSU President was raising slogans and “the speech (by him) was more than political”.

According to police sources, the anti-terror unit of Delhi police’s Special Cell to which the case has been transferred, needed some time to interrogate both the accused.

Justice Pratibha Rani, before whom the Delhi Police claimed that they have witnesses who have identified Kanhaiya and others raising anti-India slogans, will pronounce the order on March 2.

He was taken to one-day police custody on February 25 and was thereafter remanded back in judicial custody for two weeks on February 26.

Umar and Anirban had surrendered before police late on February 23 night.

To this, the high court asked whether Kanhaiya Kumar was seen shouting slogans and police admitted that he was present but it has “no footage of him shouting anti-national slogans”.

He told the bench that then Police commissioner B S Bassi had said that police would not oppose Kanhaiya’s bail plea but the cops have now taken a “u-turn” and there was no reference in their status report about three officials who were present at the spot.

The court reserved its order for 2 March on the bail plea.

The lawyers, who also attacked the media and JNU faculty, was caught saying on camera in a sting operation carried out by a news channel that the attack was pre-planned and that they had the full support of the police force present in the court premise.