NEW DELHI: On the second day of lawyers’ violence in the Patiala House Courts Complex, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi to ensure the security of arrested JNU student union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who is facing sedition charges.
A bench of Justices J Chelameswar and A M Sapre sent a six-member panel to the Patiala House court after it came to their notice that fresh incidents of violence had erupted there. The team of six senior lawyers, comprising Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Dhavan, Dushyant Dave, A D N Rao, Ajit K Sinha and Harin Raval, was rushed by the bench to the lower court to assess the volatile ground situation.
The panel reported back that the situation at Patiala House Court was unprecedented and that the atmosphere was one of fear and terror; they said they too bore the brunt of those people in lawyers’ robes who hurled abuses and expletives at them.
“This particular atmosphere is unprecedented. Police did not do their job. The crowd broke the cordon and threw water bottles and sharp-edged flower pots on us. They used abusive language for us, which is never witnessed. If the police protection was not with us, we too would have returned black and blue,” senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan informed the bench.
On this, the court said, “We may place on record that it is reported today by the members of the Committee that the accused was manhandled while he was produced before the court today. We therefore make it clear that the responsibility is exclusively that of the Commissioner of Police, Delhi to ensure the safety of the accused.”
The court will resume the hearing on Thursday, when the Supreme Court panel too will submit its report. Raval, a member of the panel of senior advocates, submitted that he had filmed the entire incident at the Patiala House court on his mobile phone and that he will submit a copy of it to the court on Thursday.
The panel said they were able to reach the court room with a police cordon, which the crowd broke through. After meeting Kanhaiya, they came to know that he was beaten outside the court room.
Attack Highly Improper: Jaitley
With lawyers attacking journalists on court premises twice, Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley said Wednesday, “Media has an unhindered right to report. Attack on media persons is highly improper and condemnable.” Meanwhile, senior editors met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and demanded a judicial probe.
All-party meet on budget session eve
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu has called another all-party meeting, a day ahead of the Budget session, which is set to begin under the shadow of issues like JNU student sedition case, Hyderabad University scholar suicide, President’s rule in Arunachal Pradesh, and the National Herald case.
Chomsky, pamuk criticise nda govt
Eminent writers from across the world, including Noam Chomsky and Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, have joined the chorus of protest against the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar. A statement signed by 86 academicians condemned “the culture of authoritarian menace the govt in India has generated.”