Decide on sanction to prosecute Kanhaiya Kumar, others within a month, court tells Delhi govt

A Delhi court on Wednesday asked the Delhi government to take a decision within a month on the sanction to prosecute former JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others in a sedition case.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Manish Khurana observed that the delay in granting sanctions caused wastage of judicial time.

"It is expected of the Delhi government that the decision regarding the sanction or otherwise would be taken within one month so that further processing in the present case may be done," the court observed.

It further said: "The time which is being taken to finalise the issue of sanction or otherwise has caused wastage of judicial time as the case had been listed and adjourned repeatedly since the filing of the chargesheet."

The court will further take up the matter for hearing on October 25.

The court's directions came after the Delhi Police and public prosecutor Vikas Singh apprised it that the sanction of chargesheet is still pending with the Delhi government's Home Department.

A letter from the Deputy Secretary of Delhi government Home Department stated that the matter is still under consideration and decision has not been taken till now.

Under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the court cannot take cognisance of the police chargesheet without sanction from the home department of the concerned state.

In the chargesheet 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 police said the Forensic Science Laboratory had retrieved an SMS sent by Khalid to Kumar, asking him to "arrive at Sabarmati Dhaba, JNU, as their permission had been cancelled by the JNU administration.