Fighting outside Indian court hearing student sedition case

Referring to Kanhaiya, Bassi said, “He was escorted by the requisite number of police officers and he was taken care of”.

The latest reports by intelligence agencies suggest that there is no video evidence with the Delhi police yet to show JNU Student’s Union leader Kanhaiya Kumar mouthed “anti-national” slogans on the campus.

Kumar was arrested last week and charged with sedition under a colonial-era law.

The apex court even asked the Delhi High Court Registrar General to be present in the Patiala House court complex and personally conduct the verification of people who have been allowed access to the court room today.

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JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested on sedition charges, was allegedly beaten up by lawyers on Wednesday while he was being produced at Patiala House court.

The court was also informed by senior advocate Ms. Jaising that Mr. Kumar has been attacked in the court premises when he was brought for remand proceedings. Kumar was arrested by the Delhi police on sedition charge for allegedly questioning Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s hanging and delivering inflammatory speech.

The case has triggered the biggest nationwide protests by students in a quarter of a century and a tough response from supporters of the nationalist government who say the actions against Kumar are justified.

With Kumar’s custody extended and the both students and faculty of the university still holding protests against the crackdown, Shehla Rashid, the Vice President of the JNU Student Union stepped in to address the allegations levelled against them.

Hence, the Home Secretary, Commissioner of Police, Delhi and Chief Secretary in Delhi government are directed to submit urgent report within a week, the Commission said.

Kushwaha was slapped inside a courtroom while some other journalists – including Sonal Malhotra of NDTV, Amit Pandey of IBN7, Alok Singh of the Indian Express and Azaan from DNA – were attacked on the court premises by lawyers shouting “Bharat Mata ki Jai” slogans. “We felt using of force at that time wouldn’t have been appropriate”, he said. “JNU stands for a vital imagination of the space of the university – an imagination that embraces critical thinking, democratic dissent, student activism, and the plurality of political beliefs”.

The opposition Congress Party accused supporters of the ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of being behind attacks on students, academics and journalists who had gone to the court for the hearing.

The court ordered police commissioner to ensure that the accused, media and related lawyers must be provided security.