Sedition row: JNU upholds punishment for Umar, Kanhaiya, months after Delhi HC set it aside

Other students who have been fined include former JNUSU officer bearers Ashutosh Kumar, Anant, Chintu Kumari. The students have been asked to deposit the fine within two weeks. In compliance with the HC’s orders, the university also sent an undertaking to the students, which states that they will not indulge in any dharna or agitation.
The February 9 incident pertains to an event on campus to mark the third anniversary of the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. It had snowballed into a controversy, with allegations that anti-national slogans were raised. Khalid, Kumar and Anirban Bhattacharya were charged with sedition and arrested. The three, who belong to left-leaning student organisations, are out on bail.

Following this, JNU had set up a high-level enquiry committee (HLEC) to probe whether rules and discipline of the varsity had been compromised. While the committee had awarded the punishment last year, the students moved the Delhi High Court, which set it aside. The court had then asked the JNU V-C to look into the matter and give time to students to defend themselves, and inspect the HLEC’s documents.

Khalid said he is “rejecting the report and will be challenging it, while Kumar refused to comment. “It’s politically motivated… It’s the third time that I’m being punished for the same thing by the same administration, and each time they have conducted the enquiry without following due process. The last two times, it was set aside by the court. This time too, we will challenge it and we’re confident that it will be set aside. It’s also bizarre that they have decided to rusticate me for the next semester, when I will no longer be a student,” said Khalid.

He will be submitting his PhD thesis this semester. Issuing a statement in support of the students, the JNUSU said: “JNU students were called anti-national and doctored videos were circulated to defame JNU… Even after two years, the Delhi Police hasn’t been able to file a chargesheet against JNU students.” The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, which was the main complainant in the case, said the “quantum of punishment was deplorably small”.

“After 28 months, the verdict of the appellate authority establishing the guilt of Khalid, Kumar the stand of ABVP that anti-national activity took place on February 9, 2016. But the quantum of punishment in all cases has been disproportionately small,” said Vijay Kumar, president of ABVP-JNU.