AAP govt, Delhi Police engage in blame game over JNU sedition case

The AAP government and the Delhi Police engaged in a blame game on Saturday after a court questioned the department for filing a chargesheet in the sedition case against former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and others without procuring the required sanction from authorities.

An AAP government spokesperson said no file seeking any prosecution sanction in any JNU-related case had so far been brought to the notice of any Delhi minister.

"If the Delhi Police are making any such claim, it is a complete lie and they are hiding something," he said.

However, a senior Delhi Police official said prosecution sanction is required at the stage of taking cognisance.

He said that while filing the chargesheet, the investigating officer had mentioned that he has applied for sanction from the Delhi government.

"It was applied for the same day," the spokesperson said.

Sources said the file for sanction was received by the home department and forwarded to the law department for necessary action.

Earlier Saturday, a Delhi court questioned police for filing a chargesheet against Kumar and others in the sedition case without procuring the required sanction.

"Why did you file (the chargesheet) without approval? You don't have a legal department," the court said.

On January 14, police filed the chargesheet against Kumar and others, saying he was leading a procession and supported seditious slogans raised on the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus during an event on February 9, 2016.

They previously claimed before the court that Kumar had raised anti-India slogans "to incite hatred and disaffection towards the government".

Police also charged former JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans during the event to mark the hanging of Parliament attack mastermind Afzal Guru.

The event had taken place despite the university administration cancelling the permission, following a complaint from ABVP, which had termed it "anti-national".

A case was registered on February 11, 2016 under sections 124A and 120B of the IPC against unidentified persons at Vasant Kunj (North) police station, following complaints from BJP lawmaker Maheish Girri and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.