The Delhi High Court on Tuesday deferred the bail plea hearing of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar, who has been arrested for alleged sedition, for a day.
This came even as the Delhi Police opposed the bail plea of the JNU student leader. Notably, Delhi Police commissioner BS Bassi had earlier said that the police would not oppose if Kanhaiya moves court for bail.
The Delhi High Court has also sought a reply on the issue from the Delhi Police.
As soon as the hearing commenced before Justice Pratibha Rani at 10.30 am, the bench said, "Are you filing a status report? If you were aware, you should have done it."
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for the police, told the bench that they were opposing the bail plea of Kanhaiya.
At this juncture, the bench said, "What about the status report. If you do not have the status report, I will not proceed. Ask your investigating officer to file the report." ASG Mehta, however, told the bench that they would file the status report in a sealed cover as "this is a pre-charge sheet bail and the status report cannot be shown to the accused".
To this, the bench observed, "I do not need it in a sealed cover. You will have to file it. Issue notice. File the status report by tomorrow."
The bench, however, clarified that the status report will be limited to the extent of bail only.
As the matter commenced, senior standing counsel of Delhi government advocate Rahul Mehra opposed the appearance of ASGs Mehta and Sanjay Jain and lawyer Anil Soni, saying before appearing in the matter they should show notification in this regard.
"If they don't have the same (notification) they cannot stand on their legs before this court," Mehra told the bench. Responding to this, ASG Jain said, "Once the ASGs are appearing in this matter, you have no business to interfere in this issue."
At this stage, the bench intervened and said, "Let's not fight over this issue. I will proceed only if status report is filed."
Advocate Mehra, however, said, "They have crossed the 'laxman rekha' and I will not allow this unless the court passes an order. I am appointed by the full court reference of this high court." Mehra also contended that the status report in this matter has to be filed by the Delhi Police Commissioner and he has to clarify his stand as he had earlier said that the police will not oppose Kanhaiya's bail plea.
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court agreed to give urgent hearing to a plea by two JNU students, including Umar Khalid, seeking police protection prior to surrender before cops. It also agreed to hear another plea seeking directions to police to arrest five JNU students.
The report submitted by Delhi Police in court has claimed that Kanhaiya Kumar was present at site where anti-India slogans were raised.
According to the Delhi Police report, accessed by CNN-IBN, the police has backed its claims on the basis of television footage.
The report has also claimed that eyewitnesses corroborated that Kanhaiya was present when some students allegedly raised anti-India slogans.
The student leader had earlier approached the Supreme Court directly, which refused to take a decision on the matter, saying a decision at the apex court would undermine other courts.
Delhi Police has faced widespread criticism for the handling of the situation after Kanhaiya Kumar was allegedly beaten up by lawyers inside Patiala House Court when he was produced for hearing.
(With PTI Inputs)
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