JNU Sedition Case: Court directs to supply chargesheet copy to Kanhaiya, others, grants bail to 7 accused

Delhi's Patiala House Court on Monday directed the prosecution to supply the copy of chargesheet and other documents to all accused in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) sedition case in which the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Kanhaiya Kumar is an accused among others.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Dr Pankaj Sharma also granted bail to seven accused on a personal bail bond of Rs 25,000 in the matter, who were never arrested by Delhi Police in the case. The Court also noted that Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and one other had already got bail in the case earlier.

The Court slated the matter for April 7 for scrutiny of documents.

However, Advocate Sushil Bajaj represented Kanhaiya Kumar sought exemption from appearance of the CPI(M) due to his social engagement, but the Court said it can't consider this application in advance.

Former JNU student leader Umar Khalid was also produced by the Tihar Jail authority as he is currently in judicial custody in connection with a case related to North East Delhi Violence.

All the 10 accused named in the chargesheet appeared in court today.

On the last date, the Court took cognisance of Delhi police's chargesheet and had issued summons against all accused.

In its chargesheet, the police claimed JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar led a procession and supported -- along with others named as accused -- seditious slogans raised on the JNU campus on February 9, 2016, during an event to mark the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

Earlier, the matter was adjourned several times due to the pendency of required sanction from the concerned department. In the chargesheet filed in a court in January 2019, Delhi Police had said that Kanhaiya Kumar and others, including former JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, led a procession and raised anti-national slogans in the university campus during an event on February 9, 2016.

The chargesheet stated that there were video footages wherein Kanhaiya Kumar is "seen leading the students who were "raising anti-national slogans" and that he had been identified by the witnesses in the videos. "The location of mobile phone at the place of occurrence" was also cited as evidence against Kumar in the 1200-page chargesheet.

As part of other evidence, the police said the Forensic Science Laboratory had retrieved an SMS sent by Khalid to Kumar, asking him to "arrive at Sabarmati Dhaba, JNU, as their permission had been canceled by the JNU administration, "under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)".

(ANI)

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