The sedition case that was slapped on JNU students in 2016 seems to be a saga that won't end any time soon. On Friday, the Patiala House Court that had ordered the Delhi Police to file a report on the case and set March 29 as the deadline was further miffed by the fact that the Deputy Commissioner of Police who was in charge of the case, did not show up for proceedings, according to reports.
Umar Khalid, who is one of the students charged with sedition said that even the police are losing interest in the case because it so baseless. "The sedition case was completely politically motivated and after three years the chargesheet was finally filed. The timing was quite interesting because it came out during the elections season. Now the police themselves are not turning up this means even the government has lost interest in the case," he said.
Understandably upset, the judge pulled up the Delhi Police for the second time in a row - in connection with this case - and is believed to have threatened contempt charges if the report isn't filed soon. Originally filed at the Vasant Kunj Police Station, it was transferred to the Special Cell somewhere along the way. It is believed that DCP (Special Cell) Pramod Kushwaha is handling the case.
The issue came to the fore when videos of JNU students began to circulate in 2016 with the audio suggesting that students were using separatist slogans like Azaadi Kashmir and so on. This set off the entire anti-national debate and snowballed into a counter-movement that has constantly been targetting the BJP government.
JNU student unionists including Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid were charged with sedition in 2016, but the formal chargesheet — a 1200 page colossus put together by several branches of the Delhi Police — was filed only three years late, in January 2019.
When the matter came up for hearing, the judge had asked the Delhi Police why they had filed the chargesheet without sanctions — for which the Delhi Government was blamed. The judge asked the cops to get a move on it and file a report by March 29 — which they had failed to do.