High Court to hear JNU students' plea seeking protection

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court today agreed to hear a plea filed by two JNU students seeking security before they surrender to police in a sedition case.

A bench of justices B D Ahmed and R K Gauba agreed to grant urgent hearing to the plea of Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, which said that there is a threat to their lives and sought police protection while surrendering.

"Let the matter be listed today," the bench said.

Five JNU students, Khalid, Bhattacharya, Ashutosh Kumar, Rama Naga and Anant Prakash Narayan had gone missing from the campus since February 12 after JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested in the sedition case for allegedly raising anti- India slogans in a controversial event at the premises.

Police teams were rushed to the campus on the night of February 21 following information that the five students were spotted at the varsity premises.

However, the cops kept waiting outside the main gate for the Vice Chancellor to give a go ahead for their entry into the campus.