JNU row: Lawyer Yashpal Singh gets bail following arrest for Patiala House Court brawl

Yashpal Sharma, one of the three lawyers caught on camera beating up journalists, students and teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru University at the Patiala House Court complex last week got bail on Wednesday. The Delhi Police had arrested Sharma on Tuesday. The arrest came a day after a sting operation aired by the India Today news channel revealed that the three lawyers reportedly admitted to thrashing JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar while he was in police custody.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday denied anticipatory bail for two students of the university who are accused of sedition. It also asked Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya to surrender to police at a place of their choice, and follow the due process of law. Earlier in the day, the court postponed proceedings for JNU students' union president Kumar. The student leader was arrested on charges of sedition after allegedly shouting anti-national slogans at an event held protesting the hanging of Parliament attacks convict Afzal Guru on February 9.

There was controversy even before Kumar's hearing started on Tuesday morning, with Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung appointing four lawyers to appear for the state, and telling the Delhi government’s standing counsel Rahul Mehra not to appear in court. According to ANI, the move was the result of the Delhi police saying it had no confidence in the four lawyers appointed by the Arvind Kejriwal government. Kejriwal has been vociferously against the action of the police against the students of JNU, and condemned the government for it during a rally.

Here is how the day unfolded:

10 pm: The Delhi Police on Tuesday night arrested Yashpal Sharma, one of the three lawyers caught on camera beating up journalists, students and teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru University at the Patiala House Court complex last week, reported Zee News. According to reports, Singh is being questioned by the police at Delhi's Tilak Marg police station in connection with the violence. A senior Delhi Police official told NDTV that Singh has been arrested in connection with two cases of assault. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a plea seeking action against the three lawyers.

4.45 pm: The Delhi High Court has said that Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya have to surrender and follow the due process of law. The court said the two JNU students could surrender at a place of their choice, which was opposed by the police, reported PTI, and will continue the hearing on the students' plea seeking security protection before their surrender. The court also dismissed another plea filed by a lawyer seeking direction to Delhi Police to enter the JNU campus and arrest the sedition-accused students, reported ANI.

4 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has joined the rally in support of Kanhaiya Kumar and Rohith Vemula at Jantar Mantar. Kejriwal said the central government drove Vemula to suicide, and supported the demands for a new legislation against political interference in universities.

3.35 pm: Security has been increased at Delhi High Court ahead of the hearings on anticipatory bail and police cover for the JNU students accused of sedition.

3.30 pm: Delhi's Police Commissioner BS Bassi said the police have now opposed bail for Kanhaiya Kumar because he would influence the investigation and witnesses if released. Bassi had earlier said the police will not oppose Kanhaiya's bail plea, saying that a young man like him should be given another chance. Bassi said on Tuesday that circumstances had changed from earlier.

3.05 pm: Security has increased at the gates of JNU. Border Security Force and Central Reserve Police Force personnel have been stationed outside the university.

2.55 pm: JNU students Rama Naga and Anant Prakash Narayan have filed pleas for anticipatory bail. Earlier, JNU student Umar Khalid and a peer had filed a plea asking for security for when they surrender to Delhi Police. The Delhi High Court will reportedly hear the petitions at 4 pm today.

2.45 pm: Protests have been held at a university in Srinagar in support of Kanhaiya Kumar, ANI reported.

2.25 pm: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has joined the protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, which hundreds of students undertook to protest for Kanhaiya Kumar and Rohith Vemula. Gandhi criticised the start of Parliament proceedings, saying that the Centre has spoken about its past achievements but not mentioned Vemula or Kumar, or even the ongoing Jat quota protests. He added that a law is needed to end discrimination in Indian universities.

2.20 pm: Two retired Army officers and former JNU students met the vice-chancellor. Former Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Niranjan Malik. told reporters that they had no complaints or demands and were not returning their degrees, but that they wanted to discuss the issue with the VC.

2.15 pm: The Rohith Vemula and sedition at JNU issues will be discussed in Parliament on Thursday.

1 pm: Stanford University has also extended its support to JNU. In an online statement, some students, faculty members and alumni said they believed the events unfolding at JNU are part of a "series of larger attempts to curb freedoms", and that in many instances they have seen the presence of the "state-Hindu Right-university nexus".

12.30 pm: Rama Naga, one of the JNU students accused of sedition, said the Students' Union did not organise the event on February 9, which was held to protest Afzal Guru's hanging. Naga said individual groups organised it and called people from outside to attend. He added that if the police entered the campus to arrest him and his accused peers, they will cooperate.

11.45 am: A rally began at Ambedkar Bhawan in New Delhi opposing Kanhaiya Kumar's arrest and the sedition charges against him, as well as the "institutional murder" of Hyderabad University Dalit student Rohith Vemula. Vemula committed suicide in January, and the Centre, former vice-chancellor, as well as Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya were accused of having played a role in the circumstances leading to his death. Students from across the country have come to Delhi for the rally, and hundreds of JNU students have also joined the march.

11.40 am: Special public prosecutor Shailendra Babbar said Delhi Police will oppose any bail for Kanhaiya Kumar, and said there is enough evidence against him and the others accused of sedition.

11.25 pm: Lawyer and Swaraj Abhiyan member Prashant Bhushan has asked the Supreme Court to take action against the lawyers who were caught on tape admitting they beat up Kanhaiya Kumar. The apex court informed Bhushan it would hear his motion if he filed contempt proceedings against the lawyers.

11.05 am: The Delhi High Court has agreed to hear three pleas on the JNU issue – one filed by Umar Khalid, also accused of sedition, and other accused JNU students seeking security before they surrender to Delhi Police, and a second filed by Delhi Police seeking to enter the campus. The petition filed by the police has also sought action against JNU's vice-chancellor Jagdeesh Kumar and faculty members for "obstructing the administration of justice". The VC has not allowed police into the campus to arrest the others accused of sedition. The court will also hear a plea taking cognisance of the sting operation done by India Today, which revealed that lawyers pre-planned an attack on Kanhaiya Kumar at Patiala House Court, and also beat him up when he was in police custody.

11 am: The court has asked for a police status report on JNUSU's president Kanhaiya Kumar before his bail hearing. ANI said the report includes eye-witness statements against Kumar, and video footage.

10.45 am: Delhi High Court has postponed Kanhaiya Kumar's bail hearing. Reports have said that Delhi Police opposed bail for the president of JNU's Students' Union.

10.40 am: The investigation team looking into the JNU matter has submitted an interim report to Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi.

10 am: ANI reported that Umar Khalid and four other JNU students accused of sedition, who are inside the university campus, will move the Delhi High Court seeking security for their surrender to police.

9.30 am: A plea seeking the police's entry into Jawaharlal Nehru University will be filed at Delhi High Court. A team of police officials have been waiting to arrest five students accused of sedition who returned to the university's campus on Sunday night.

What happened earlier:

On Monday, a sting operation by India Today was released which found that Kumar was violently beaten by lawyers while in police custody. Lawyers reportedly admitted to assaulting him even before he was attacked later at Patiala House Court last week when he was produced for a hearing. The video of the sting operation was released, and showed that the attack on Kumar at the court premises was pre-planned.

The Supreme Court on Monday, after reading four reports on the violence at Patiala House Court last week, said the reports were conflicting, and ordered all parties to examine all reports. Three reports said Kanhaiya Kumar was attacked outside the court room on February 17. A fourth report was filed by a special team of lawyers sent by the Supreme Court to assess the situation at the lower court. The lawyers' report said that at one point, Kumar was trapped inside the court room with "an unidentified person". The team comprised Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Dhavan, Dushyant Dave, Ajit Sinha, ADN Rao and Harin Raval. Sibal is also Kanhaiya Kumar's counsel.