A Delhi court on Wednesday, 18 September, asked the city government to decide within one month on the sanction to prosecute former JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others in a sedition case.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Manish Khurana said the delay in taking a decision on the matter has caused wastage of judicial time as the case had been listed and adjourned repeatedly since the filing of the charge sheet, reported PTI.
The court passed the directions after the Delhi Police informed the court that the file regarding sanction is pending with the Home Department of the Delhi government.
The police informed the chief metropolitan magistrate that it has done its part and is now awaiting the decision.
“The time which is being taken to finalise the issue of sanction or otherwise has caused wastage of judicial time as the case had been listed and adjourned repeatedly since the filing of the charge sheet.”Delhi Court, as quoted by PTI
"It is expected of the Delhi government that the decision regarding the sanction or otherwise would be taken within one month so that further processing in the present case may be done," the court added.
The court then posted the matter for 25 October, by which the reports have to be filed.
On 14 January, the police had filed a charge sheet in the court against Kumar and others, including former JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, saying they were leading a procession and supported seditious slogans raised in the JNU campus during an event on 9 February 2016.
Yet to Decide on Sanction, Kejriwal Had Said on 6 Sept
Earlier, on 6 September, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that the government was yet to decide on the prosecution sanction.
"The Delhi government has not yet taken any decision. The authority concerned (in the Home Department) will take a final decision after studying all the available information. We will produce the decision before the court," the chief minister had said, adding that there would be no "political interference" or "pressure" from his party.
(With inputs from PTI)
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