The Supreme Court on Friday received a sealed cover report from the Delhi Police on the mob violence in Patiala House Courts complex.
The Delhi High Court Registrar General and a lawyers’ team, which was sent by the apex court, has already submitted their reports in sealed covers.
The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing on Monday to debate the contents of the reports submitted before it.
However, a Bench of Justices J.S. Chelameswar and A.M. Sapre suggested that the reports be perused and even distributed to the media and Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar’s lawyers only after the unrest on the streets of the capital eases.
The court was responding to questions from Mr. Kumar’s counsel on whether they will get a copy of the reports. The court’s reluctance to make the reports on the violence public came even as lawyers organised a protest march in Delhi against the media’s negative portrayal of them.
The Bench was hearing the bail plea of Mr. Kumar, which it later transferred to the Delhi High Court for an early hearing.
The circumspection from the Bench came as senior advocate Adish C. Agrawala, appearing for the All India Bar Association, contested the statement made by the apex court’s lawyer team, that violence was rampant and an atmosphere of terror prevailed at Patiala House Courts complex when they visited the premises on the orders of the Bench on Wednesday.
Six lawyers appearing in the sedition case, journalists and Mr. Kumar’s University friends were trapped inside the courtroom along with the Magistrate hearing the case — too scared to come out.
