The High Court on Tuesday directed the Delhi Police to submit its status report on a petition seeking initiation of perjury proceedings against former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and a university professor for allegedly filing false affidavits.
Justice S. P. Garg asked the police to file a status report within four weeks and fixed the matter for December 19. Petitioner Prashant Kumar Umrao has claimed that JNU Prof. Himanshu had “deliberately” filed a false affidavit in the High Court along with the bail petition on behalf of Mr. Kumar in connection with the sedition case.
Inappropriate conduct
Petitioner’s counsel R. P. Luthra told the court that the Prof. had wrongly vouched on oath that Mr. Kumar was not involved in any anti-national activity and that he was a man of proper conduct.
Mr. Luthra added that Prof. Himanshu should have been aware that Mr. Kumar was fined for inappropriate conduct on campus one year ago and that there was nothing to show that he was not involved in any anti-national sloganeering.
While the court at first felt that since the student leader had been granted bail nothing remained in the petition seeking perjury proceedings, the petitioner however convinced the court that it had nothing to do with him being released on regular bail.
On March 2, Mr. Kumar was granted a six-month interim bail by the court in the case registered against him after alleged anti-national slogans were raised on JNU campus on February 9.
Mr. Kumar was arrested on February 12 on charges of sedition. Two other students, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, were also arrested in connection with the case and granted interim bail.
A trial court had on August 26 granted regular bail to all three accused.
Petitioner claimed JNU prof “deliberately” filed false affidavit in HC along with bail plea on behalf of Kanhaiya in sedition case
