Delhi's Patiala House Court adjourns hearing in JNU sedition case till February 19

Delhi's Patiala House Court on Wednesday (December 11) adjourned the hearing in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) sedition case till February 19, 2020 after Investigating Officer informed the court that the file regarding grant of sanctions is still pending with the Home Department of Delhi government.

On September 18, the Patiala House Court had told the Delhi government that too much time has already been wasted in this case and had asked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led government to take a decision on the sanction or otherwise within one month.

The court in its order said, "It is expected of the Delhi government that the decision regarding the sanction or otherwise would be taken within one month so that further proceeding in the present case may be done. The time which is being taken to finalise the issue of sanction or otherwise has caused wasted of judicial time as the case had been listed and adjourned repeatedly since the filing of the charge sheet."

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During the hearing, Delhi police and public prosecutor had told the court that the Delhi government has not yet given sanction to prosecute former-JNU Students` Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others.  A letter from the Deputy Secretary of the Home Department of Delhi government claimed that matter is still under consideration and decision has not been taken till now.

Under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the court cannot take cognizance of the police charge sheet without sanction from the home department of the concerned state. In the charge sheet filed in a court in January, Delhi Police said there were video footages wherein Kumar is "seen leading the students who were raising anti-national slogans" and he had been identified by the witnesses in the videos. "The location of mobile phone at the place of occurrence" was also cited as evidence against Kumar in the 1200-page charge sheet.

The police had also said that an SMS sent by Khalid to Kumar was retrieved by Forensic Science Laboratory and in the SMS Khalid had asked Kanhaiya to "arrive at Sabarmati Dhaba, JNU, as their permission had been cancelled by the JNU administration".