Bassi on U-turn: Situation different

In a complete U-turn, police on Tuesday opposed in the Delhi High Court the bail plea of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested in a sedition case, in which the court has asked for a status report by Wednesday.

When the matter came up for hearing as directed by the Supreme Court last week, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for the police, told Justice Pratibha Rani that they were opposing the bail plea of Kanhaiya, who was arrested 11 days ago. Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi, who had last week said that police would not object if Kanhaiya applied for bail, on Tuesday justified the change in their stand saying that the circumstances have changed. “The circumstances when I had said so, those have totally changed,” he said.

Bassi said Kanhaiya showed repentance on his part when he issued an appeal on the day he was produced before a court but later denied having issued any such appeal and made certain allegations which were “false”.

“We have reasonable apprehension that if he (Kanhaiya) comes out on bail, he is bound to impact the investigation and influence witnesses. He is also likely to indulge in activities that are violative of penal laws.

“That is why we have opposed grant of bail to Kanhaiya and shall oppose it further too,” Bassi added.

Kanhaiya had moved bail plea in the high court following the direction of the Supreme Court which had refused to hear it saying it will set a “dangerous precedent”.