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SC to hear plea today on Patiala House court assault
The petition, filed by JNU alumnus ND Jaiprakash through advocate Indira Jaising on Tuesday, was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur and requested an urgent hearing.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear a petition that accuses the Delhi Police of inaction against lawyers who allegedly thrashed JNU students, teachers and journalists at Patiala House Courts on Monday.
The petition, filed by JNU alumnus ND Jaiprakash through advocate Indira Jaising on Tuesday, was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur and requested an urgent hearing.
Jaising informed the bench that arrested JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar would be produced before the court on Wednesday and therefore immediate court directions were needed to ensure that there was no repeat of Monday’s violence.
Jaiprakash, who was hurt in the violence, alleged the police were a “mute spectator to this brazen display of violence and brute force being perpetrated on innocent persons” who had gathered in the court premises.
“This petition merely seeks to assure safety of the accused, their relatives, friends, lawyers and journalists while discharging their legal as well as professional obligations,” read the petition.
Jaising said a surcharged and vicious atmosphere in the court premises would deny a fair trial to the accused and impinge his fundamental right. The SC should pass necessary directions to the Centre and Delhi Police so that there is congenial atmosphere during the proceedings, the court was told.
The petition gives elaborate details of how the men in black robes, posing as lawyers, roughed up students, professors and journalists including female mediapersons. It mentions how BLP MLA OP Sharma resorted to violence on the streets outside the court complex.
