Police request Delhi govt to clear decks for prosecution of Kanhaiya Kumar in JNU sedition case

The Delhi Police on Wednesday wrote a letter to Delhi Home Secretary requesting him to expeditiously give clearance to prosecute former JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar in an alleged sedition case.

In the letter, Denputy Commissioner of Police, Special Cell, Pramod Kushwah said, "It is requested to expedite the process to accord prosecution sanction under Section 196 CrPC as required for offence under Chapter VI of the IPC, that is, Section 124A IPC."

Earlier in the day, a Delhi court adjourned till April 3 the hearing in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) sedition case, in which Kanhaiya Kumar is an accused, as Delhi government is yet to grant the requisite sanctions in the matter.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Purshottam Pathak adjourned the matter after investigating officer informed the court that the file regarding the grant of sanctions is still pending with the Home Department of Delhi government and that there hasn't been any further updates.

In the chargesheet filed in a court in January this year, the Delhi Police had said that former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and others, including Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, led a procession and raised anti-national slogans at an event in the university campus on February 9, 2016.

It said that there were video footages wherein Kanhaiya Kumar is "seen" leading the students who were raising "anti-national slogans" and that he had been identified by the witnesses in the videos.