JNU ‘sedition’ case: Prosecution nod still pending
AlokKNMishra | TNN | Updated: Feb 6, 2019, 08:01 IST
JNU student leaders Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid surrounded by police personnel during a protest. NEW DELHI: Mystery shrouds the status of prosecution sanction sought from the Delhi government in the alleged case of sedition in JNU, which is listed for hearing in court on Wednesday.
The file which was moved to the home department and then travelled to the law department is at present in home minister Satyendar Jain’s office and awaiting a decision. The law department has placed the file to the home minister with a submission that it is up to the competent authority to take a call on giving the sanction for prosecution in the case under Section 196 of Criminal Procedure Code.
Government sources said no meeting has been held over it, and the file is with the minister and he has to take a decision on it. “The police have filed a chargesheet in the court stating that they will get the prosecution sanction within 10 days,” a source said.
According to the Criminal Procedure Code, a court cannot take cognisance of a police chargesheet for offences against the State (like sedition) without sanction from the home department of the state.
The prosecution sanction triggered a showdown between the law minister and his department. Law minister Kailash Gahlot slapped a show-cause notice on principal secretary (law) A K Mendiratta after he sent the file to the home department without putting it up before the law minister for his approval.
Another notice was sent to Mendiratta by the minister after Mendiratta, in response to the show-cause notice, skipped the issue on which his explanation was sought and went on to explain who the competent authority was to grant the sanction of prosecution under section 196 of the CrPC. The minister added that the officer took the stand that there was a difference of opinion between him and the minister on the ambit of powers under Article 239AA of the Constitution.
Gahlot was not satisfied and again asked for “valid reasons” why the file was not routed through him. That was on Thursday.
Earlier, Delhi Police had sought permission from the home department to prosecute former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and nine others.
The file which was moved to the home department and then travelled to the law department is at present in home minister Satyendar Jain’s office and awaiting a decision. The law department has placed the file to the home minister with a submission that it is up to the competent authority to take a call on giving the sanction for prosecution in the case under Section 196 of Criminal Procedure Code.
Government sources said no meeting has been held over it, and the file is with the minister and he has to take a decision on it. “The police have filed a chargesheet in the court stating that they will get the prosecution sanction within 10 days,” a source said.
According to the Criminal Procedure Code, a court cannot take cognisance of a police chargesheet for offences against the State (like sedition) without sanction from the home department of the state.
The prosecution sanction triggered a showdown between the law minister and his department. Law minister Kailash Gahlot slapped a show-cause notice on principal secretary (law) A K Mendiratta after he sent the file to the home department without putting it up before the law minister for his approval.
Another notice was sent to Mendiratta by the minister after Mendiratta, in response to the show-cause notice, skipped the issue on which his explanation was sought and went on to explain who the competent authority was to grant the sanction of prosecution under section 196 of the CrPC. The minister added that the officer took the stand that there was a difference of opinion between him and the minister on the ambit of powers under Article 239AA of the Constitution.
Gahlot was not satisfied and again asked for “valid reasons” why the file was not routed through him. That was on Thursday.
Earlier, Delhi Police had sought permission from the home department to prosecute former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and nine others.
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