JNU case: Supreme Court seeks report on attack on student leader Kanhaiya Kumar in court

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has sought reports from Delhi Police and the Delhi High Court registrar general on circumstances under which Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Kanhaiya Kumar was manhandled and beaten up inside the Patiala House district court complex here on Wednesday.

The HC registrar general (RG) will submit his report by Thursday afternoon while Delhi Police has to submit its report to a Supreme Court bench by Friday. Earlier in the day a group of lawyers attacked Kumar while he was being produced before the district court under heavy police security in connection with a sedition case filed against him.

A Supreme Court bench asked for the reports after a six-member team of senior advocates — Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Dhavan, Haren Raval, Dushyant Dave, ADN Rao and Ajit Sinha — visited the lower court premises under its instructions, verified the situation there, and reported back to it about the charged-up atmosphere there created by a section of lawyers who wanted to take the law into their own hands.

One of the team members, Dhavan told the bench that Kanhaiya Kumar was beaten up badly while he was being brought in and again was manhandled by an unknown person inside the courtroom despite the police escort. The person who attacked the student leader inside the courtroom was let off free despite the High Court RG asking Delhi Police to arrest him, the team claimed, citing the RG’s account.