JNU sedition: DCP summoned for delay in charge sheet sanction

Chief metropolitan magistrate Deepak Sherawat summoned DCP Pramod Kushwah to appear before him on Saturday along with the report.

A Delhi court on Friday rapped Delhi Police because one of its senior officers did not appear before it with a report explaining the delay in obtaining the state government’s sanction in the JNU sedition case.

JNU sedition: DCP summoned for delay in charge sheet sanction (Photo by Sanjeev Verma/ Hindustan Times)(Hindustan Times)

Chief metropolitan magistrate Deepak Sherawat summoned DCP Pramod Kushwah to appear before him on Saturday along with the report.

The officer was not available for a comment.

Earlier, on March 11, the court had directed the DCP concerned of Delhi Police’s special cell to file a “written explanation” on why the sanction had not been obtained. The special cell is investigating the case.

Police had on January 14 filed a 1,200-page charge sheet in a city court against former JNU student union president Kanhaiya Kumar and nine others, charging them of raising anti-India slogans and supporting sloganeering on campus during an event on February 9, 2016.

Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, investigating agencies have to take the approval or sanction of the state government while filing charge sheets in sedition cases.

The court had earlier pulled up Delhi Police for filing the charge sheet “without obtaining requisite sanction.”

“It is for the concerned police official to explain the steps which have been taken so far for obtaining the sanction,” the court had said. It had earlier rapped Delhi Police for “dragging its feet on the subject”, which it had said is “not acceptable in view of the seriousness of the allegations”.

The file related to the sanction is with Delhi home minister Satyendar Jain since January 21. The Delhi government has said it needs time to look into the charge sheet.

A senior government officer, who did not wish to be named, had said while Delhi Police took more than three years to prepare the charge sheet, they expected the Delhi government to read it within two hours. The officer had earlier said police had sent a copy of the charge sheet to the government two hours before submitting it in court.

On the last date of hearing, assistant public prosecutor for state, Vikas, had said they had instructions to seek adjournment for two or three months with regard to sanction.

The Delhi government refused to speak on the delay in giving a sanction. A government spokesperson said the matter is subjudice.

According to the police, Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya and seven others had allegedly raised “anti-India” slogans during the February 9 event. They have denied the allegations and criticised Delhi Police for filing a sedition case against them. Kumar and Khalid said the police action was “politically motivated.”