JNU sedition: Delhi court grants govt time till Jul 23 to decide on sanction to prosecute Kanhaiya

A Delhi court Monday granted the AAP government here over three months to decide on granting sanction to prosecute former JNU student's union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others in the 2016 sedition case. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat granted specific time till July 23 to the Delhi government which had earlier told the court that it will take over a month to decide whether to grant sanction to prosecute Kanhaiya and others in the case.

On January 14 this year, the police had filed a charge sheet in the court against him saying he was leading a procession and supported seditious slogans raised on the JNU campus during an event on February 9, 2016. Kumar is contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Begusarai parlimentary constituency in Bihar as CPI candidate.

The Delhi government on April 5 had told the court that the police filed the charge sheet in the 2016 JNU sedition case in a "hasty" and "secretive manner". The AAP government had accused the police of filing the charge sheet secretly and in a hasty manner without obtaining the required sanction from the competent authority.

The court had earlier directed the state government to file a "proper reply", citing a definite time-frame. DCP of Special Cell of Delhi Police, Pramod Kushwaha, had told the court that the agency has already sent a request to the Delhi government seeking the sanction.