New Delhi:The Delhi police filed a chargesheet on Monday against former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others in a sedition case lodged in 2016.
The police also charged former JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans during an event on the university campus on February 9, 2016 to commemorate the hanging of Parliament-attack convict Afzal Guru. The others chargesheeted in the case are Kashmiri students AquibHussain, MujeebHussain, MuneebHussain, Umar Gul, RayeeaRassol, Bashir Bhat and Basharat.
As many as 36 others, including Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D Raja's daughter Aprajita, Shehla Rashid (then vice-president of the JNUSU), Rama Naga, Ashutosh Kumar and BanojyotsnaLahiri have been named in column 12 of the chargesheet due to insufficient evidence against them, police sources said.
Metropolitan magistrate SumitAnand put up the chargesheet for consideration before a competent court on Tuesday.
The accused have been charged with offences under sections 124A (sedition), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 465 (punishment for forgery), 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 (IPC).
The chargesheet also contains CCTV footage, mobile footage and documentary evidence.
The police have alleged that Kumar had incited the mob to shout anti-India slogans.
A case was registered on February 11, 2016 under sections 124A and 120B of the IPC against unidentified persons at the VasantKunj (North) police station, following complaints from BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) MP MaheishGirri and the AkhilBharatiyaVidyarthiParishad (ABVP).
The said event had taken place despite the university administration cancelling the permission, following a complaint from the ABVP, which had termed it as “anti-national”.
‘POLITICALLY MOTIVATED’
Kanhaiya Kumar Monday termed the move as “politically motivated” and questioned its timing, ahead of the parliamentary election.
“The charge sheet is politically motivated. However, we want the charges to be framed and a speedy trial in the case so that the truth comes out. We also want to see the videos that have been placed on record as evidence by the police”, Kumar told PTI.
Khalid, who addressed a student gathering at St. Joseph's College in Bangalore on the “role of youth in safeguarding the Constitution”, said, “We reject the allegations. The move to file the charge sheet three years after the alleged incident is an attempt to divert the attention (of the people) right before (parliamentary) elections. We will fight it out in court.”
Shehla Rashid, who had led the campaign for the release of Kumar and other students, said, “This is a completely bogus case in which ultimately everyone will be acquitted. The timing of the charge sheet right before the elections just reflects how the BJP wants to reap electoral benefits out of this. I was not even on campus on the day of the event.”
CPI Leader D Raja said, “It is politically motivated. After three years Delhi police is filing the charge sheet in the case. We will fight it legally in court and politically outside court”.
A case was registered on February 11, 2016 under Sections of 124 A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC against unknown persons at VasantKunj (North) police station following complaints by BJP MP MaheishGirri and the ABVP. The February 9 event happened despite the varsity administration having cancelled the permission following a complaint by the ABVP, who had termed it as “anti-national”.