Supreme Court no to SIT probe into attack on JNU's Kanhaiya Kumar

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a 2016 petition seeking a SIT probe into an assault on then JNU Students Union President Kanhaiya Kumar when he was produced at a court here.

Kanahiya Kumar was assaulted by lawyers at the Patiala House court on February 15 and 17 that year while he was in police custody.

Observing that "we can't flog a dead horse to life", Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice R. Banumathi dismissed the plea by lawyer Kamini Jaiswal, who also sought initiation of contempt proceedings against two lawyers involved in the attack.


"We don't think we will flog a dead horse to life," Justice Gogoi said, brushing aside plea by counsel Prashant Bhushan that "if this kind of incidents go unpunished... and it involves contempt of court."

"Forget it... constituting a SIT (Special Investigation Team)... we don't think we will. We don't think there is contempt," Justice Gogoi said.

Stressing that it was not inclined to continue with the matter, the court said: "Our order does not prevent the petitioner taking further steps permitted in law."

In February 2016, Kanahiya Kumar was beaten when he was produced in the court in connection with a sedition case. He was accused of sedition after anti-national slogans were raised in a meeting held in the university campus. Kanhaiya Kumar was not present at the meeting.