Delhi court dismisses a plea seeking early hearing on January 5 JNU campus violence

In a major development, a Delhi court on Wednesday dismissed a plea filed by Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor Suchitra Sen seeking early hearing of a petition for registration of FIR in a case relating to the attack on students and teachers in the university campus on January 5. The petition, filed through advocate Adit Pujari, said that the court had, on January 16, asked the police to file an action taken report (ATR) by March 23 but hearing could not take place in the matter due to the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Duty Magistrate Vasundhra Chhaunkar, while dismissing the application, said that it is worth reiterating that the investigation of the FIR already registered regarding the mob violence is in progress and Delhi High Court has directed the probe agency to expedite the matter.

"This court abstains itself from making any observations upon the arguments nor the registration of separate FIR as the same may affect the final disposal of an application under Section 156 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)," the Court said.

Crime Branch report 

Meanwhile, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police had recently filed a status report on JNU violence stating that the investigation of the case is in progress and all efforts are being made to identify the attackers/assailants and conclude investigation in a time-bound manner. "The applicant Sucharita Sen was also injured in the incident at Sabarmati T- Point on January 5, 2020, and she filed a separate complaint at PS Vasant Kunj (North) on February 6, 2020. This complaint has been transferred to the Crime Branch," the status report said.

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"During the investigation, statement of Sen has been recorded on February 20, 2020, in which she has reiterated her version mentioned in her complaint. Her statement u/s 161 CrPC has also been recorded. MLC (medical test) of Sucharita Sen has been collected from AIIMS which shows the nature of injuries as 'Simple Blunt'," it added. The report further said that a special investigation team (SIT) was constituted to investigate all the incidents related to January 3, 4 and 5, which happened in the JNU campus.

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Attack on JNU students

On January 5 this year, JNU students were attacked by masked goons. As many as said 50-odd goons entered the campus and went on a rampage, attacking people and vandalising cars. JNU students union president Aishe Ghosh and others were severely injured. Meanwhile, the ABVP alleged that their leaders were attacked and their presidential candidate Manish Jangid was beaten up by 'left goons'.  

The attack took place months after the JNU students protested against the Draft Hostel Manual which was approved by the Inter-Hall Administration. They had claimed that the manual has provisions for fee hike, curfew timings and dress code restrictions for students. They had also said they will not end the strike till the complete rollback of the Hostel Manual. 

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Delhi Police suspects JNUSU involved in attack

Four days after the Delhi police's Crime Branch started an investigation, Delhi Police Crime Branch SIT head DCP Joy Thirke revealed that the JNUSU comprising of SFI, AISA, AISF, and DSF were responsible behind all attacks on January 3, 4 and 5 incident, he stated 9 students, including JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh have been identified from the viral videos and photos - mainly belonging to the four organisations. 

(with ANI inputs)

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