NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has reserved its order on a plea seeking an FIR in a case of alleged anti- national sloganeering at the Ramjas College by some students' groups in February this year.
Metropolitan Magistrate Abhilash Malhotra reserved the order after hearing arguments of complainant advocate Vivek Garg and the Delhi Police, and posted it for next week.
The court had earlier warned Garg against mixing this incident with the JNU case in which sedition charge was slapped against some students. In February 2016, JNU had hogged the limelight after the arrest of its student leaders, including then JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar.
The Ramjas college case involved the raising of slogans and a clash between students owing allegiance to the ABVP and Left organisations, AISA and SFI.
On February 21, members of the RSS student wing ABVP had gathered outside the college and shouted slogans in protest against a seminar for which JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid were invited.
The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members allegedly pelted stones, vandalised the venue and disrupted the seminar.
The next day violent clashes had erupted between the students of All India Students Association (AISA) and Students Federation of India (SFI) and the ABVP students, which left several of them and three teachers injured.
The court had on August 29 observed that sedition charges could not be pressed on the basis of an unauthenticated and unreliable video, after it was shown so-called footage of the alleged "anti-national" sloganeering in the college.
The plea, which sought registration of an FIR for alleged offences of sedition, criminal conspiracy, waging war against the State and defamation under the IPC, also demanded action against the Delhi Police officials for not lodging the complaint.
The police had on August 3 submitted an action taken report in the matter and said it was examining students and teachers to identify the culprits involved in the Ramjas College clashes.
In the report, the police had said they had lodged an FIR at the Maurice Nagar police station on February 22 for the alleged offences or rioting and obstruction, causing hurt and assault to deter public servant from discharging duty However, the complaint had alleged that "anti-national slogans/activities were being carried out by leaders/students of AISA/SFI in Ramjas College, shamelessly and openly which supported India's enemy Pakistan. The criminal acts of accused were also boosting the morale of terrorists against our country".