“I have told the government counsel to tell the Supreme Court that Kanhaiya before appearing in the Patiala House Court has made the appeal”.
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BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha, who has often taken a position at variance with the party’s stand, today came out in support of arrested JNU student union leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who is facing sedition charges, and called for his release soon. Hours after the Centre’s directions, police commissioner BS Bassi said: “If Kumar applies for bail, then police will not object to it. I personally feel a young person…perhaps be given bail”.
The university has been on the boil over the arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar after some students organised a meet to mark the anniversaries of executions of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat.
On Monday, lawyers had assaulted Delhi journalists and JNU students inside the Patiala House court complex, which is located in the heart of Delhi.
Mr Kumar was escorted onto court premises on foot by a few policemen amid reports he was punched and kicked as he was taken inside the courtroom.
The court adjourned the hearing till 2 p.m.so that a team of lawyers, comprising Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Dhawan, Dushyant Dave, Ajit Sinha, A.G.N. Rao and Harin Rawal, and could and assess the situation in the Patiala House court complex.
Kanhaiya has been charged with sedition in connection with the February 9 event in the JNU campus during which anti-India slogans were raised.
Emerging from the PMO, Bassi said investigators, probing the alleged raising of anti-India slogans at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) event, were looking at all aspects of the case including the motive.
“We will not allow any anti-national activity”, said Kuldeep Kumar Sharma, 55, who works at a drug company.
The violence occurred despite the Supreme Court ordering the police to ensure security ahead of yesterday’s hearing.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said the government was ready to discuss the protests after opposition lawmakers raised the issue with Modi during an all-party meeting.
Few JNU students were attending classes while, outside the campus gates, protesting Hindu hardliners pushed against police barricades in an unsuccessful effort to get in.
The court said it was taking the matter on record and asked Kanhaiya to give a written statement on the incident.
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A group of lawyers bet him up as the police produced him in the court, said media reports.
