JNU row: Kanhaiya Kumar goes to Supreme Court, seeks bail

NEW DELHI: JNU students union chief Kanhaiya Kumar has appealed to the Supreme Court to use its extraordinary jurisdiction to grant him bail. He pleaded that he was falsely implicated in a sedition case. The court will hear his plea on Friday.

In his petition filed through lawyers Rishab Sancheti, Harsh Bora and Anindita Pujari, Kumar drew the court’s attention to the fact that he had been beaten up despite being in police custody inside the court room and expressed fear for his safety and security in Tihar jail. Exceptional situations call for exceptional remedies, his petition argued.

“Dire threat to life of the petitioner still prevails and further incarceration of the petitioner in these circumstances is a constant threat to his life. The petitioner perceives a threat to his life in the prison where there is a great likelihood of an attack on him.” He is also a student and a not hardened criminal, the petition said, seeking his release on bail for now. Kanhaiya contended under the Constitution he should be presumed to be innocent till held guilty, but had been beaten up and intimidated inside the court premises. He said the surcharged atmosphere in the Patiala House Court was not conducive to a fair hearing.

The physical harassment and violence he was subjected to, was a clear violation of his Fundamental Right to life. “The environment at the court complex is not conducive — not for a hearing, much less for a fair trial. The petitioner, his friend as well as lawyers fear for the safety of their life.”

BAR COUNCIL TO TAKE ACTION: Bar Council of India chairman MK Mishra assured a bench comprising justices Jasti Chelameswar and AM Sapre that it would take disciplinary action against lawyers who rioted at the Patiala House Court and beat up Kanhaiya while he was being produced in court. “We will take action,” Mishra told the court drawing an angry rejoinder from senior advocate Dushyant Dave who had just resigned as the Supreme Court Bar Association president. “If the Bar Council of India had acted in the last 40 years, things would not have come to such a pass.”