Kanhaiya Kumar was charged with sedition by Delhi Police.
A court on Wednesday said the Delhi government couldn't sit indefinitely on a file seeking clearance to prosecute former student leader Kanhaiya Kumar and nine others in a sedition case. The court asked Delhi Police to tell the state government to urgently clear the file.
The court's remarks came after Delhi Police said that sanction to prosecute the accused was still awaited.
"Authorities can't sit on file for indefinite period," the court said.
Last month, the court had rejected the 1,200-page chargesheet by Delhi Police on grounds that they did not seek the Delhi legal department's opinion before filing it as is procedure.
For filing a chargesheet in a sedition case under the Code of Criminal Procedure, the police must take sanction from the state government. The Delhi Police acts under the Union Home Ministry.
The police alleged that Mr Kumar was leading a procession and supported seditious slogans during an event in the Jawaharlal Nehru University on February 9, 2016, to mark the hanging of parliament-attack mastermind Afzal Guru.
Both Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid have said the case against them was "politically motivated".
"When the magisterial inquiry was done, it was concluded that no JNU student was involved. I want to say, the police filed a chargesheet after three years. We thank them," Kanhaiya Kumar told NDTV.
"The filing of chargesheet after three years, ahead of elections, clearly shows it to be politically motivated. I trust the judiciary of my country," he told news agency ANI.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat listed the case for further hearing on February 28.