The Delhi High Court on Friday postponed the hearing for Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union President Kanhaiya Kumar's bail application. Kumar's lawyers on Friday moved the Delhi High Court after the Supreme Court refused to hear Kumar’s bail plea and said it was “not the appropriate forum”. It directed the high court to hear his plea expeditiously and also assured that counsel for all parties will be allowed in the court room, but entry of others, including journalists, will be regulated. Kumar had moved the Supreme Court on Thursday, and former attorney general of India Soli Sorabjee was to represent him.
Kumar was arrested last Friday after being charged with sedition. The police believe he shouted anti-national slogans during a protest against the hanging of Parliament attacks convict Afzal Guru, at the JNU campus last week. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had said on Thursday that he will move a private members Bill in the Parliament, to ensure that no one is charged with sedition unless s/he promotes violence.
Here is what happened on Friday:
8.40 pm: The BJP filed a plea in the Calcutta High Court demanding a National Investigation Agency inquiry into the alleged use of anti-national slogans during a protest at Jadavpur University.
7.45 pm: Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader, after a meeting of Left party leaders with the President, said that Pranab Mukherjee had to safeguard the Constitution. Yechury said the President could not allow the government to launch an insurrection against the Constitution.
7.15 pm: Jadavpur University vice-chancellor said he is not considering filing a complaint against university students who raised pro-Afzal Guru slogans during a rally held to express solidarity with JNU students on February 15.
4.45 pm: Kanhaiya Kumar's bail hearing was postponed by the Delhi High Court. Reports said it is likely to be heard next week.
4.15 pm: Police personnel in Srinagar clashed with protestors after they tried to stop a march condemning the hanging of Afzal Guru, where protestors carried flags of Pakistan and the Islamic State, as well as ones thanking JNU students for their support.
4 pm: Lawyers in Jammu and Kashmir began a protest condemning anti-national activities at JNU.
3.20 pm: Kanhaiya Kumar moved the Delhi High Court registry seeking bail.
3.15 pm: PTI reported that trains in Bihar were stopped forcibly by hundreds of protestors who sought Kanhaiya Kumar's release. Officials said the protestors were mostly affiliated with the Left parties and ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal.
3 pm: Lawyers began a protest from Patiala House Court to India Gate. A panel of Supreme Court lawyers on Thursday submitted a report on the violence caused by lawyers outside Patiala House Court during Kanhaiya Kumar's hearing on Wednesday.
2.45 pm: Delhi Commissioner of Police BS Bassi, who was reportedly in the running to become Central Information Commissioner, was dropped from the shortlist of candidates. Bassi told the media the decision did not bother him. He will retire from the police force at the end of the month.
1.50 pm: Left parties called for an all-India protest from February 23 to 25 against the Centre's handling of the JNU case. General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Sitaram Yechury said leaders of Left parties, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United) and the Nationalist Congress Party will meet with President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday to seek his intervention in the JNU matter.
1.20 pm: Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi said investigations were "on the right track" and that absconders will be arrested soon. He was referring to JNU student Umar Khalid, who is believed to have organised the event protesting against Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's hanging. Bassi added that they may have to provide Kanhaiya Kumar with additional security if he gets bail.
1.05 pm: Faculty of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay came out in support of students of Jawaharlal Nehru University. A statement signed by 42 teachers read, "We condemn the overreach of the state in the recent incidents in a number of institutions and the attempts of the right-wing to stifle dissent and suppress differences." They added that the Centre should not dictate the meaning of "nationalism", PTI reported.
1 pm: Kanhaiya Kumar's parents reportedly refused security that was provided to them after their son was attacked at Patiala House Court on Wednesday. Kumar's parents, who live in Bihar's Begusarai district, refused a five-member police team sent by district superintendent of police, Manoj Kumar.
12.50 pm: The Ethics Committee of the Delhi Vidhan Sabha recommended the expulsion of BJP MLA OP Sharma, who was involved in the assault on students and journalists outside the Patiala House Court. He was arrested on Thursday, but released on bail later.
12.15 pm: Kanhaiya Kumar's lawyer is likely to approach the Delhi High Court by 2 pm on Friday. The Supreme Court has granted permission to amend the petition.
12.05 pm: Supreme Court gave its assurance that counsel for all parties will be allowed in the court, but entry of others, including journalists, will be regulated.
12 pm: The apex court directed the Delhi High Court to hear Kanhaiya Kuma's bail plea expeditiously. It also asked the Centre and Delhi Police to make adequate security arrangements for Kanhaiya Kumar and his lawyer on the premises of the high court.
11.45 am: Kanhaiya Kumar asked to approach Delhi High Court, as the Supreme Court believes it is "not the appropriate forum, and the case is not at the right stage to hear the bail plea".
11.35 am: Supreme Court refused to hear JNU Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar's bail plea.
In another development, the Delhi Police on Friday submitted its report to the Supreme Court on the violence that erupted at the Patiala House Court complex on Tuesday. Members of the media were assaulted by lawyers as part of the ongoing row with the JNU students. Also, Kumar’s medical examination report has revealed that he received multiple abrasions on his left foot and nose, besides tenderness in his left toe, during the attack on him at the Patiala House Court complex, PTI reported. Earlier, Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi had said Kumar was merely “jostled” and not assaulted.
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