JNU student Kanhaiya Kumar, accused of sedition, was among those assaulted at the Patiala House court on Wednesday.
Highlights
- Supreme Court to decide on lawyers who attacked people at a Delhi court
- SC to study ground report by senior lawyers who had been sent to the spot
- JNU Row: Violence, chaos at Patiala House court twice in one week
A day after a
court hearing for arrested JNU student Kanhaiya Kumar descended into chaos for the second time this week, the Supreme Court is expected to decide on unruly lawyers who shouted slogans and attacked people at a Delhi court.
Mr Kumar, accused of sedition, was among those assaulted at the Patiala House court on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court will take up the report of five senior lawyers it had sent to make a ground assessment of the volatile situation at the court. The lawyers' team has told the top court that they were abused and flowerpots and stones were thrown on them.
Mr Kumar, head of the student union at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University or JNU,
was kicked and punched as he was brought into court by policemen.
Some lawyers then bragged to the police, "We have done our bit for the day. We slapped him." While he was waiting inside for his hearing to begin, the 28-year-old student was struck by a man who was reportedly allowed to walk away.
Defying Supreme Court restrictions, lawyers barged into the compound before Mr Kumar arrived; rival groups clashed as they shouted competing slogans in favour of and against JNU. A journalist from Firstpost was injured.
The police failed to step in or control the chaos. "The situation is not out of hand,"
claimed Delhi Police Chief BS Bassi, even though images on TV reflected otherwise.
Police Commissioner BS Bassi defended the police action at the court. (AFP photo)
This afternoon, teachers and students of JNU or Jawaharlal Nehru University will take out a march to protest Kanhaiya Kumar's arrest. In solidarity with their cause, students will also take out marches in Hyderabad and Aligarh.
Mr Kumar has been arrested on charges of sedition for making anti-India remarks at a JNU event last week, a charge he denies.
The arrest has turned into a national controversy, with the opposition and large sections of the JNU students and faculty accusing the government of crushing dissent.
The BJP, which has defended the arrest and sedition charge, will also protest at Ahmedabad and Kolkata.