A Delhi court has taken cognizance of a chargesheet filed by Delhi Police against former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar and nine others in a 2016 sedition case.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma also summoned all 10 accused in the case to appear before the court on March 15, the next date of hearing.
The court’s order came almost a year after Delhi government gave its nod to police to prosecute Mr. Kumar and nine others for their involvement in a procession where they had allegedly supported seditious slogans raised on the varsity’s campus during an event on February 9, 2016.
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The Aam Aadmi Party government had granted prosecution sanction against 10 accused: Kanhaiya Kumar, Syed Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya, Aquib Hussain, Mujeeb Hussain Gattoo, Muneeb Hussain Gattoo, Umair Gul, Rayees Rasool, Basharat Ali and Khalid Bashir Bhat.
The accused have been charged with offences under Sections 124A (sedition), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 143 (punishment for being a member of an unlawful assembly), 149 (being a member of an unlawful assembly), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
Sedition carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. “Chargesheet alongwith documents perused. The court hereby takes cognizance of offence under Sections 124 A/323/465/471/143/147/149/120B IPC. The sanction to prosecute the aforementioned accused persons has already been filed by Home Department, GNCT vide order dated February 27, 2020,” the judge said.
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On February 11, 2016, a case of sedition was registered against unidentified people on complaints from BJP MP Maheish Girri and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.