Police did nothing to stop attacks on Kanhaiya finds SC appointed panel

A panel of lawyers appointed by the Supreme Court has found inaction on the part of the police on the incidents of violence witnessed at the Patiala House Court in Dehli on February 15 and 17.  

In its report, the panel of esteemed lawyers said the police did nothing to stop the lawyers who brutally assaulted Kanhaiya both inside and outside the courtroom.

This comes a day after the police sought custody for the JNUSU president who is currently in judicial custody. His bail plea hearing was deferred till February 29.

An excerpt of the report accessed by Livelaw reads:

“The atmosphere outside was surcharged and intimidating. Abuses were hurled at Mr. Kapil Sibal and all other committee members. There was an effort to create an atmosphere of fear and terror. The upbeat mood of the crowd in lawyers’ dress who were continuously shouting slogans and abuses to present a terrorising atmosphere was clearly visible. We also witnessed slogan shouting and abusive language being used ten metres away from the courtroom.” 

On Thursday, the Supreme Court has also agreed to hear a plea for a SIT probe and contempt action against lawyers, accused of beating the JNUSU President and others.

The SC had appointed senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Dhavan, Ajit Kumar Sinha, Dushyant Davej, Harin P. Raval and advocate A.D.N. Rao on February 17 to probe into the matter.

The Hindu reported that Dhavan and Sibal asked all police personnel present in the court as to how a person whose name was not on the list as per the apex court order, could enter the court room, to which there was no ‘’satisfactory’’ reply.

Kanhaiya was arrested on February 12 for allegedly taking part in anti-national activites. He was in police custody till February 17 and then remanded in judicial custody till March 2.

A delegation of journalists that included Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai, Siddharth Varadarajan, Ravish Kumar, Suhasini Haidar, Sankarshan Thakur and Sagarika Ghose on February 16 protested against the assault on journalists.

On February 15, a group of lawyers, chanting ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ and ‘Vande mataram’ had attacked students, faculty and the media, including female journalists present at the court premises.