The Delhi Police have been asked to file replies in response to the pleas for regular bail put forth by JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and his two co-activists Anirban Bhattacharya and Umar Khalid.
At present, the three students are out on interim bail. Additional Sessions Judge Reetesh Singh has now directed the police to file replies by August 26, which is the next date of hearing.
The three students face sedition and criminal conspiracy charges for allegedly raising anti-India slogans on the JNU campus at a meeting organised on February 9 earlier this year in memory of Afzal Guru, who was hanged in 2013 after being convicted in the Parliament attack case.
On Wednesday, the High Court had directed Kanhaiya to move a lower court after he had approached it for regular bail.
Submitting that this was a politically-motivated case, Kanhaiya through his lawyer Sushil Bajaj said that there was no reason to deny him the liberty of bail as he had cooperated in the investigation. Also, there was no allegation against him of hindering the probe or influencing witnesses, the bail application said.
Kanhaiya’s interim bail will expire on September 1. The High Court had granted him interim bail for six months on March 2.
Later, Khalid and Bhattacharya too were granted interim bail for the same period by the trial court.
On August 12, the High Court had refused to cancel Kanhaiya’s bail, stating that a probe could not be interfered with by a stranger under the Cr.PC, and the Delhi Police themselves were not in favour of cancelling the bail.
Two private persons had filed separate petitions seeking cancellation of his interim bail.
As of now, Kanhaiya Kumar, Anirban Bhattacharya and Umar Khalid are
out on interim bail
