No coercive steps against Kanhaiya till Friday, HC tells JNU

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) not to take any coercive steps against the former JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar till Friday.

The former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union leader was fined by a university panel in connection with a 2016 incident when anti-India slogans were allegedly raised at an event.

Justice Rekha Palli's order came while hearing Kumar's plea challenging the university's order which has imposed a fine against him.

As the bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul was on leave, Justice Palli deferred the matter till Friday.

Kumar's plea, filed through advocates Tarannum Cheema and Harsh Bora, has sought quashing of the order passed by JNU through its Chief Proctor on July 4.

JNU on July 4's order held Kumar guilty under clause 3 of Rules of Discipline and Proper Conduct of Students of JNU and fined him Rs 10,000.

Clause 3 deals with any act which may be considered by the Vice Chancellor or any other competent authority to be an act of violation of discipline and conduct.

The order has been issued based on the report by a high-level enquiry committee that was set up on February 11, 2016.

Kumar said in his plea that there were serious lapses towards observing the principles of natural justice and expressed violation of the directions issued by the Delhi High Court on October 12, 2017.

Kumar also told the court that no written notice was provided to him and he was not allowed to cross-examine the two witnesses who deposed against him.

He sought a stay of the July 4 order and exemption from fine till the disposal of his present petition.

An enquiry found student-activist Umar Khalid, along with Kumar and Anirban Bhattacharya, guilty in the February 2016 episode in which a group of young men allegedly raised "anti-national" slogans.

It had also recommended rustication of Umar Khalid apart from imposing financial penalty on 13 other students for violation of disciplinary norms.

Kumar, a member of the Communist Party of India's student wing, was the president of the varsity's student union that year.

The three were accused -- though none yet chargesheeted by police -- of raising slogans against the integrity of India during a poetry-reading gathering of students at Sabarmati Dhaba inside the JNU campus on February 9, 2016.

--IANS

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