JNU row: Protests in several cities, Kumar moves SC for bail

The bail plea of Kanhaiya Kumar, the JNU student leader facing sedition charges will now go up before the Delhi High Court with the Supreme Court refusing to hear the plea. “We will report the matter to Delhi Police Cyber Cell”.

His bail petition was mentioned before a bench of justices J Chelameswar and AM Sapre by senior advocate Soli J Sorabjee and Raju Ramachandran who wanted it to be heard today itself.

The arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar last Friday over a rally at which anti-India slogans were chanted has provoked some of India’s biggest student protests in years amid concern over freedom of speech in the country’s universities.

On Thursday, Kumar moved the Supreme Court to seek bail after being remanded to judicial custody till March 2 by a Delhi court. The Bench posted both the petitions on Friday.

The lawyers, mostly from Patiala House and several other district courts, marched aggressively, around the India Gate circle, shouting slogans and waving the tricolour, in presence of heavy police security. “They must understand that the national flag simply does not belonged to the government agencies alone, rather it is owned by every Indian national”, said a statement issued by PPFA.

Meanwhile, the six-member lawyers’ delegation that visited the Patiala House Courts on the request of the apex court to assess the ground situation submitted its report in a sealed cover.

The Delhi High Court Registrar General too submitted its report to the SC. The Registrar General was present during the trial proceeding to oversee the restriction on entry of lawyers and journalists in the courtroom.

The NHRC also alleged that Kumar was subjected to psychological pressure during interrogation adding that physical assault on Kumar in the court premises appeared to be organised and pre-planned.