JNU SEDITION CASE: CHARGESHEET FILED AGAINST THE ACCUSED

Delhi Police’s anti-terrorism wing Special Cell filed a charge sheet on 14 January 2019 in Patiala House Court against the accused in JNU sedition case of 2016. A total of 10 students have been charged as the main accused by the police, including former Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar, former JNU student Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya. Also, 36 other people including Communist Party of India leader D Raja’s daughter Aprajita, former vice president of JNUSU Shehla Rashid have been named in column 12 of the chargesheet due to insufficient evidence, thus leaving the possibility of filing of a supplementary chargesheet later on.
The accused have been charged under various provisions of Indian Penal Code, 1860. For instance, section 124A (sedition), section 147 (punishment for rioting), section 120B (criminal conspiracy), section 149 (being a member of unlawful assembly), section 323 (voluntary causing hurt). Umar Khalid has also been charged under section 465 (punishment for forgery) and section 471(using forged documents).
The charge sheet was accompanied by CCTV footage, video clips as well as other documentary evidence. The video clips were acquired from various eyewitnesses, one of them being from Zee News which was accused of broadcasting doctored videos with respect to the matter in issue. However, Delhi Police has claimed that they have acquired raw footage from the news channel and other eyewitnesses and has sent them to forensic study before using them as evidence. The Police have maintained that Kanhaiya Kumar cannot be seen as sloganeering in any of the video clips. However other nine accused can be directly seen sloganeering in the videos with the Police.
Police has also cited the pamphlets of Afzal Guru event recovered from the computers of Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya as evidence. Also, call records of Umar Khalid have been cited by the Police to buttress the claim that he got into touch with other accused. Umar has also been charged with forgery for signing on behalf of Bhattacharya and one another JNU student.
The filing of charge sheet after three years of the incident has raised various questions. The most important question relates to the timing of the filing of chargesheet.It has been alleged by the accused that the motive of the ruling party in filing of chargesheet before the General Assembly Election is to gain political benefits. Reacting to the filing of chargesheet, Kanhaiya Kumar said to ANI, “filing of chargesheet after three years, ahead of elections, clearly shows it to be politically motivated”. On a similar note, Umar Khalid said, “the government is trying to divert the attention and change the narrative in an election year to hide their failures”. On the other hand, Delhi Police has tried to justify the act by saying that the interrogation process was complex and time taking since Police has to go to other states to record statements. However, it is undeniable that the timing of chargesheet has raised important questions as to the credibility of the Delhi Police.

By-
Deeksha Gupta
Student Reporter- INBA