Request for sanction to prosecute Kanhaiya, others still pending before govt: Police tells court

The request for sanction to prosecute former JNU Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar and others is still pending before the Home Department of the Delhi government, the city police told a court in New Delhi.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Manish Khurana summoned the Investigating Officer for December 11 after the public prosecutor informed the court that the sanctions were still pending.

The court had on September 18 asked the Delhi government to decide within one month on the sanction to prosecute Kumar and others, saying the delay has caused wastage of judicial time as the case had been listed and adjourned repeatedly since the filing of the charge sheet.

On January 14, the police had filed a charge sheet in the court against Kumar and others, including former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, saying they were leading a procession and supported seditious slogans raised on the campus during an event on February 9, 2016.

The court had earlier directed the police to ask authorities concerned to expedite the process while granting it three weeks to secure the sanction needed to prosecute Kumar and others accused in the case.