The Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi hasn’t yet approved the request for sanction to prosecute Kanhaiya Kumar and others in the JNU Sedition Case, Delhi Police has said. The request is still pending before the Home Ministry of the Delhi government, the police informed Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Manish Khurana.
The Police said that they had done their part and they were now awaiting the government’s approval on the matter. As per rules, the court can take cognizance of the chargesheet only after the government has approved it. The court reserved its order for 2 pm today for further directions in this regard.
Earlier in the month, the AAP government had rejected Delhi Police’s request on the matter. Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain was of the opinion that no case of sedition can be made against Kanhaiya on the basis of the evidence put up by Delhi Police.
In January this year, the Delhi Police Special Cell had submitted a 1200-page charge-sheet in the case. The JNU sedition case has seen no proceeding so far due to the Arvind Kejriwal government’s refusal to give nod for prosecution.
In February this year, the Patiala House Court had asked Delhi police to speed up the proceedings by receiving Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi Government’s sanction for prosecution. It had also added that the state government cannot delay the case by withholding nod for prosecution.
But it was revealed before the court that the Delhi government did not respond to the charge sheet after receiving it. According to Delhi Police, the first request to sanction prosecution was sent in 2016, and another request was sent in January this year, without any results.
