Delhi HC grants six months interim bail to Kanhaiya Kumar; JNU students celebrate

March 3, 2016

New Delhi, Mar 3: In a major relief to JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar, the Delhi High Court granted him bail on Wednesday. He is likely to walk out of jail on Thursday after submission of all the bail related documents.

JNU

The Delhi HC has granted him interim bail for 6 months on surety bond of Rs 10,000. Kanhaiya Kumar's lawyers are likely to process the bail related documents on Thursday.

Before granting bail to the JNUSU president, the court had put forth some conditions before him and JNU faculty. The court asked the JNU faculty to monitor the political actions of Kanhaiya Kumar.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal was the Kanhaiya's lawyer during his bail plea.

Earlier, on Tuesday, justice Pratibha Rani had reserved the order after over three hours of hearing on the bail plea of Kanhaiya who is accused of raising anti-India slogans inside JNU campus during an event organised on February 9.

What happened in court

During the hearing, while Kanhaiya's counsel had argued that the student leader had never raised any slogans against the nation, Delhi Police had maintained that there was evidence that he and others were shouting anti-India slogans and were holding Afzal Guru's posters.

Police had claimed that Kanhaiya was "not cooperating" in the probe and even came out with "contradictory" statements in joint interrogation by Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Delhi Police.

The defence lawyers including senior advocate Kapil Sibal had countered the allegations saying there were "some outsiders with covered faces who raised anti-India slogans and Kanhaiya was seen in CCTV footage asking them for their identity cards."

The bench had also asked tough questions to the police on slapping sedition charge on the accused and asked it to show evidence against him of his "active role" in raising anti- India slogans.

Kanhaiya had also distanced himself from Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, the two other accused arrested in the case.

Meanwhile, the bail order triggered wild celebrations in JNU campus where hundreds of students, dominantly from leftist groups, celebrated, shouting slogans hailing Kanhaiya Kumar.

"We are happy, we are happy," a group of students said loudly, as per IANS.

Lawyer Vrinda Grover said she was happy with the bail order but said the surety would be provided only on Thursday when Kanhaiya Kumar is expected to walk out of Tihar Central Jail.

Special Public Prosecutor Shailendra Babbar told journalists that police would decide the next line of action after seeing the bail order.

"The order cleared one thing that we have some evidence to prove the charges framed against Kanhaiya," he said.

"If there had been no ground in our evidence, Kanhaiya would have been given a proper bail instead of an interim bail"

In Kanhaiya Kumar's hometown Begusarai in Bihar, family members and supporters burst crackers and hailed the court order. They also distributed sweets to residents.

Kanhaiya's arrest

He was arrested on February 12 in the case which was registered under sections 124 A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

According to the police, a group of students had on February 9 held an event in the campus and allegedly shouted slogans against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Guru.

Comments

A. Mangalore
 - 
Thursday, 3 Mar 2016

this is the clear example of hundreds of Muslim youths who are in jail for years on false case. God only has to help these youngsters in this country. Our country is controlled by the RSS who are anti minorities and dalits.

Abdullah
 - 
Thursday, 3 Mar 2016

If he didnot do anything wrong , then why 6 months bail and 10000 rupees fine? The police and central government should be sorry to him.
Arrest who did fake videos.

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
December 16,2025

bengal.jpg

The deletion of over 58 lakh names from West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has sparked widespread concern and is likely to deepen political tensions in the poll-bound state.

According to the Election Commission, the revision exercise has identified 24 lakh voters as deceased, 19 lakh as relocated, 12 lakh as missing, and 1.3 lakh as duplicate entries. The draft list, published after the completion of the first phase of SIR, aims to remove errors and duplication from the electoral rolls.

However, the scale of deletions has raised fears that a large number of eligible voters may have been wrongly excluded. The Election Commission has said that individuals whose names are missing can file objections and seek corrections. The final voter list is scheduled to be published in February next year, after which the Assembly election announcement is expected. Notably, the last Special Intensive Revision in Bengal was conducted in 2002.

The development has intensified the political row over the SIR process. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress have strongly opposed the exercise, accusing the Centre and the Election Commission of attempting to disenfranchise lakhs of voters ahead of the elections.

Addressing a rally in Krishnanagar earlier this month, Banerjee urged people to protest if their names were removed from the voter list, alleging intimidation during elections and warning of serious consequences if voting rights were taken away.

The BJP, meanwhile, has defended the revision and accused the Trinamool Congress of politicising the issue to protect what it claims is an illegal voter base. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the ruling party fears losing power due to the removal of deceased, fake, and illegal voters.

The controversy comes amid earlier allegations by the Trinamool Congress that excessive work pressure during the SIR led to the deaths by suicide of some Booth Level Officers (BLOs), for which the party blamed the Election Commission. With the draft list now out, another round of political confrontation appears imminent.

As objections begin to be filed, the focus will be on whether the correction mechanism is accessible, transparent, and timely—critical factors in ensuring that no eligible voter is denied their democratic right ahead of a crucial election.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.