SC refuses to hear JNU leader’s plea

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested for alleged sedition, will spend the weekend in jail after the Supreme Court refused on Friday to entertain his bail plea. The top court said approaching it directly would set a dangerous precedent and asked him to move the Delhi high court, admitting the atmosphere in the trial court was not congenial to let his counsel go there.

Kanhaiya’s counsel rushed to the high court with the plea around 3 pm. They could not get a hearing after the registry raised some technical objections. Sources said the petition would be heard on February 22.

A mob of lawyers assaulted Kanhaiya during his appearance at Patiala House courts on Wednesday and repeatedly beat up journalists they thought were not suitably patriotic. In the presence of police personnel, the lawyers openly threatened

to lynch Kanhaiya and some of them went on to appear in selfcongratulatory media interviews.

On Friday, hundreds of defiant lawyers staged a demonstration near the India Gate to assert they would physically assault anyone they deemed anti-national. The

lawyers included Vikram Singh Chauhan, the face of the attacks, and Yashpal Singh against whom police issued summons in connection with the court assaults on Monday and Wednesday.

ARUN SHARMA/ HT JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar approached the SC on Thursday, seeking bail on the grounds that his life was under threat in Tihar jail His plea was taken up by the Supreme Court which declined to entertain it Kanhaiya was arrested on February 12...