Court pulls up police on Kanhaiya charge sheet

NEWDELHI: A Delhi court on Saturday admonished the city police for not seeking the approval of the Directorate of Prosecution before filing a charge sheet accusing former Jawahalal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar and nine others of sedition for allegedly shouting anti-india slogans in 2016.

“Why did you file (the charge sheet) without approval? You don’t have a legal department?,” chief metropolitan magistrate Deepak Shehrawat asked the police.

The police submitted a 1,200page charge sheet in the Patiala House court on Monday over a JNU event held on February 9, 2016 to protest against the hanging of the 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

Besides Kumar, the accused include Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, students union leaders who were arrested over the event and are out on bail.

Police claimed in the charge sheet that Kumar was leading a procession and supported seditious slogans raised on the varsity campus during the protest.

On Saturday, the court had been expected to take cognizance of the charge sheet. After the hearing, the court, while expressing its displeasure, gave Delhi police 10 days to obtain approval for the charge sheet from the Directorate of Prosection. The court will hear the matter on February 6.

The maximum punishment for sedition is a life term. Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, in cases of sedition, the police have to obtain sanction from the state government before filing a charge sheet without which the court cannot take cognizance of the document.

Deputy commissioner of police of the special cell, Pramod Kushwaha, whose unit filed the charge sheet, declined to comment.