Delhi Court Takes Cognizance of Chargesheet in JNU Sedition Case

Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya and seven others were accused of raising anti-India slogans at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus on 2nd February 2016.

On 15th February, Pankaj Sharma, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) took cognizance of the final report almost a year after the Delhi Police has received requisite sanctions for the prosecution of the accused in the case. The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) at the Patiala High Court summoned all accused persons on 15th March.

The other seven accused in the charge sheet for raising anti-India slogans are Kashmiri students named Aquib Hussain, Mujeeb Hussain, Muneeb Hussain, Umar Gul, Rayeea Rassol, Bashir Bhat and Basharat. Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya and these seven Kashmiri students are all booked for offences under sections 124A(sedition), 143 (punishment for being a member of an unlawful assembly), 465(punishment for forgery), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 147 (punishment for rioting), 149 (being a member of an unlawful assembly), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The judge said that the copy of the order should be sent to the parties through email/WhatsApp.

Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja’s daughter Aprajita, Shehla Rashid (then vice-JNUSU president), Rama Naga, Ashutosh Mr Kumar and Banojyotsna Lahiri, all former students of JNU and 36 others have been named in column 12 of the charge sheet as there was insufficient evidence against them.

The findings of the case are based on documentary evidence, CCTV footage and eye-witness accounts of 90 persons has been claimed by the Delhi Police. The maximum punishment for sedition is life imprisonment.

In March 2016, Kanhaiya Kumar was granted interim bail by the Delhi High Court in the matter that is almost three weeks after getting arrested for sedition. Later, an Additional Sessions Judge granted interim bail to Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya in the case.