JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar. (File Photo: IANS)
New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Wednesday declined to cancel the interim bail granted to JNU student union president Kanhaiya Kumar for now.
Justice Suresh Kait adjourned the hearing to April 28 after Delhi Police said it was verifying whether Kanhaiya violated interim bail conditions.
Delhi Police's counsel Shailendra Babbar told the court that police is already investigating the case and have not approached the court yet.
He said: "Whether the act of Kanhaiya Kumar is a violation of his bail condition is a disputed fact...At this stage, we have not preferred any cancellation of interim bail."
Delhi government said it was not in favour of cancelling Kanhaiya's bail. Senior standing counsel Rahul Mehra said the petitioners must first place the facts and grounds against him (Kanhaiya).
"The petitioners have not shown a single act by which there is violation of bail condition," he added.
There were two petitions seeking cancellation of Kanhaiya Kumar's bail. Another petition sought direction for initiation of perjury proceedings against Kanhaiya Kumar for filing a false affidavit to obtain interim bail.
Advocate R.P. Luthra, one of the petitioners, sought cancellation of Kanhaiya's bail on the ground that his speeches subsequent to his release are "anti-national" which violated the bail conditions.
The pleas said Kanhaiya Kumar has violated the conditions imposed on him by the Delhi High Court when it granted him interim bail on March 2. While granting him bail the high court had said Kanhaiya will "not participate actively or passively in any activity which may be termed as anti-national".
Kanhaiya Kumar was booked and arrested on a charge of involvement in anti-national sloganeering on the JNU campus here on February 9.
The court told the petitioners to explain their locus in the case, as Kanhaiya is on interim bail and the state is already looking into the issue.
At the outset, Justice Kait said whether it is a prima facie case of violation of bail condition is to be decided by the police.
"If you (petitioners) have any grievance you bring it to the notice of police... State and Central government both are looking into it," the court said.
The petition said the speech and slogans by Kanhaiya and his associates were nothing but "challenging the sovereignty and integrity of the nation and, therefore, clear violation of the conditions of the interim bail as the same was nothing but the continuity of anti-national activities, lowering the reputation of the entire country and its citizens in the entire world".
"Kanhaiya Kumar continued his anti-national activities on each and every day and it became unbearable when he alleged in public that the Indian armed forces rape women in Kashmir," the plea said.
The petitioner said the various acts and omissions by and on behalf of Kanhaiya Kumar and his associates clearly demonstrate that the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) leader wilfully and deliberately violated the conditions imposed on him by this court and the undertaking given by him.
The petitioner urged the court to cancel the interim bail to Kanhaiya Kumar at the earliest "to minimise future damage to the reputation of India and also to restore the faith of the citizenry".
