JNU expands probe panel, says revoking sedition charge beyond its control

Accepting the demand of teachers and students, JNU today agreed to add more members to the high-level committee probing the Afzal Guru row even as it said that students union president Kanhaiya Kumar's release and dropping of sedition charge are beyond its control.
The teachers and students had been raising four demands including expansion of the probe panel, disallowing the police on campus and approaching the police seeking Kanhaiya's release and revoking of sedition charges against students.
While the varsity had earlier ruled out changing the composition of the high-level committee saying it had full-faith in it, today the Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar decided to add two more members to the probe panel.

"The Vice Chancellor had also called a meeting of Deans of all the schools and chairpersons of all the special centres to apprise them about steps being taken to restore normalcy on campus. It was decided that the three-member panel will co-opt two more members including a woman," JNU Registrar Bhupinder Zutshi told PTI.
Rejecting the demand of approaching police for revoking of sedition charge, Zutshi maintained, "we have not arrested Kanhaiya, we have also not charged anyone with sedition. It is for the police and court to take a call in this matter. Both these demands are beyond our control".

The varsity authorities also said that they are receiving messages from across the country requesting "firm action" so that similar incidents don't happen in future.

The JNU administration had instituted the "disciplinary" committee to inquire as to how the event on February 9 against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru took place despite the withdrawal of permission for the same.
On the basis of a preliminary report by the panel, the varsity had debarred eight students from academic activity while allowing them to stay as guests in hostels till the inquiry proceedings were over.
JNU students and teachers had yesterday appealed to the Vice Chancellor to take a stand in favour of the five students who were being looked for by the police in a sedition case and surfaced on the campus after being on the run for over 10 days.

A meeting of the top JNU officials, chaired by the VC yesterday, deliberated on return of the five students to the campus but could not take a decision on whether police should be allowed to enter the campus to arrest them or the students should be asked to surrender.
"Police have not approached us so far for any permission to enter the campus for arrest of these students. Neither we have approached them," Zutshi said.