JNU sedition: Accused to get chargesheet copy

New Delhi: More than two years after the Delhi Police filed a chargesheet against former JNUSU president and current CPI(M) leader Kanhaiya Kumar and other then student leaders such as Umar Khalid, a Delhi court on Wednesday ordered the police to supply a hard copy of the charges to the accused.

The police had provided the accused with the charge sheet on a CD but have now been instructed to provide hard copies to the accused within the next 2 weeks.

The chargesheet against Kumar, Khalid, Anirban, Aquib Hussain, Mujeeb Hussain, Muneeb Hussain, Umar Gul, Rayees Rasool, Basharat and Khalid Bashir Bhatt alleged that they had incited a mob to purportedly shout anti-national slogans.

However, the magistrate rejected the charge sheet in 2019 citing lack of requisite sanctions.

In February 2020, the Delhi government granted sanction to prosecute persons accused of sedition for raising anti-national slogans during the 2016 protest march.