A bail petition on behalf of JNU Students’ Union President Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested in a sedition case, was filed in Delhi High Court following the Supreme Court’s direction transferring the plea to the High Court. Security in and around the High Court was beefed up with the deployment of additional police force and CRPF personnel, as he and his lawyer were trashed by BJP supporting lawyers in Patiala court premises. Kumar, who is in judicial custody till March 02, had approached the apex court directly, seeking bail on the ground that his life is under threat in Tihar Jail. His plea was taken up earlier in the day by the Supreme Court which declined to entertain it saying if it does, it will become a precedent available to all the accused in the country. Kumar was arrested on February 12, on sedition charge following a controversial event at JNU campus where anti-India slogans were allegedly raised.
India Today and its senior journalist Rahul Kanwal exposed everything about Kanhaiya Kumar, then how people still believe that he raised the ‘anti-India slogan’. It’s proven that Kanhaiya Kumar is innocent, then why those people are still free who raised the ‘Anti India slogan’. It means the whole issue was created to divert the public attention from daily other issues which were going against the government. A sedition charge on Kumar is desperate act by police. Three veteran lawyers of India Soli Sorabji, Kamini Jaiswal and R. Ramachandran are representing Kanhaiya Kumar in the Supreme Court voluntarily, whereas Delhi Police Commissioner, Bassi however firmly believes that he has enough evidence to prove sedition against Kanhaiya. Let’s see who will win, police, media, politicians or Kanhaiya.
Meanwhile, sedition was not a part of the original Indian Penal Code (IPC) enacted in 1860 and was introduced in 1870. Since then, the law has been applied several times and has undergone several interpretations. Here are some of the sedition cases that have made an impact.
Niharendu Dutt Majumdar Vs. King Emperor (1942) case: The Federal Court held that “public disorder or the reasonable anticipation or likelihood of public disorder is the gist of the offence”. These judges were of the view that sedition implies resistance or lawlessness in some form. If there is no incitement to violence, there is no sedition.
Kedar Nath Singh vs State Of Bihar (1962): This was the first case of sedition tried under Independent India. The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court interpreted the law in line with the 1842 case – a person can be charged with sedition only if there is incitement to violence in his speech or writing or an intention to create disorder.
Shreya Singhal vs U.O.I on (2015): The court ruled that a person could not be tried for sedition unless their speech, however offensive, annoying or inconvenient, had an established connection with any incitement to disrupt public order.
Earlier too a cartoonist was slapped with sedition charges but bailed out after mass outrage. I hope Kumar too will come out proving his side. Looking at the threat, the court also ordered that special arrangements be made for the security of Kanhaiya Kumar, his lawyers and journalists.
It noted that assuming exclusive jurisdiction over the case will send a wrong impression to lower courts that they are “incapable” of handling it. A Bench exuded judicial restraint throughout the hearing which started at 10.30 am. Protests erupted when a separate petition filed by advocate Subhash Chandran alleged that he was attacked in Patiala House Court complex on February 15 by a mob instigated by the RSS and other “extremist organisations.”
Kanhaiya Kumar is a student leader of All India Students Federation (AISF), the student wing of Communist Party of India (CPI). He was elected as president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union in 2015. He was born and brought up in a village called Bihat in Begusarai district in Bihar. This village is a part of the Teghra legislative assembly constituency, which is known to be a stronghold of Communist Party of India (CPI). Kanhaiya Kumar’s father, Jaishankar Singh, is suffering from paralysis and has been bedridden for a few years. His mother, Meena Devi, is an Anganwadi worker. He has an elder brother who works in private sector. His family has traditionally been CPI supporters. In September 2015, Kanhaiya Kumar became the first AISF member to become president of the JNU students’ union, defeating the AISA (All India Students Association), ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad), SFI (Students’ Federation of India) and NSUI (National Students’ Union of India) candidates. Kanhaiya Kumar, according to his friends and spectators is a great orator. Reportedly, it was his speech a night before the presidential elections last year that actually made him win the presidential election.
Kanhaiya Kumar’s arrest soon snowballed into a major political controversy and has drawn sharp reactions from opposition parties, teachers, students and academics. Students at Jawaharlal Nehru University went on strike over Kanhaiya Kumar’s arrest which effectively paralysed the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Kanhaiya Kumar’s parents alleged that their son is a victim of Hindutva politics.
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