Why Delhi police took 3 yrs to file chargesheet in JNU sedition case

Amid criticism over filing of chargesheet after almost three years in the Jawaharlal Nehru University sedition case, the Delhi Police has said such cases "generally take such time" as it involved probe spread across the country and involved voluminous records and evidence.

The police on Monday filed the 1,200-page chargesheet in a Delhi court against former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others, saying he was leading a procession and accused him of supporting seditious slogans raised on the campus in February 2016.

Kumar and others have questioned the delay in filing of the chargesheet, alleging that its timing just a few months before the general elections had political undertones.

A core member of the investigating team, however, said it was not a delay as "these kind of cases generally take such time".

"The probe was spread across the country. A lot of evidence had to be collected, which also included the statement of a large number of accused and suspects as well as the witnesses," he said.

He said the maximum time was consumed in the interrogation of accused/suspects and witnesses of the case.

Police has also charged former JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans during the event held on the JNU campus on February 9, 2016 to commemorate the hanging of Parliament-attack mastermind Afzal Guru.

In its chargesheet, the police has claimed that it has video clips to prove the offence which has been corroborated by the statements of the witnesses.

Police has alleged that Kumar had incited the mob to shout anti-India slogans.

A case was registered on February 11, 2016 under sections 124A and 120B of the IPC against unidentified persons at the Vasant Kunj (North) police station, following complaints from Bharatiya Janata Party MP Maheish Girri and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.

The event in 2016 had taken place despite the university administration cancelling the permission, following a complaint from the ABVP, which had termed it as "anti-national".