New Delhi: Delhi law minister Kailash Gahlot has issued a show cause notice to principal secretary (law) for clearing the sanction to prosecute former and current JNU students in the sedition case without his approval. The minister has also written to the Delhi high court chief justice on the matter.
Last week, the Delhi high court rapped the Delhi police for filing a chargesheet without the requisite sanctions. The file is currently with Delhi home minister Satyendra Jain. It will have to be sent back to the law ministry for a review.
A sedition case has been filed on several JNU current and former students – including former JNU students union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya – for allegedly raising anti-national slogans at an event on February 19, 2016 in the campus.
The Code of Criminal Procedure requires the police to obtain sanction from the state government before filing a chargesheet in sedition cases. Without the government’s approval, the court cannot take cognisance of the document.
According to the Hindustan Times, the law minister’s show-cause notice – dated January 21 – to principal secretary (law) A.K. Mendiratta points to Rule 13 of the transaction of business rules. Under the rile, a principal secretary cannot communicated any views or decisions without the approval of the minister in-charge.
Also Read: JNU Sedition Case: A Forgetful Nation Enables the State’s Brutality
Gahlot said, “Instead of sending the file to the minister (law) for approval, the principal secretary (law) has directly sent the file to principal secretary (home) on January 18.”
“This is not only insubordination but appears to have been done intentionally so that the views of minister (law) are not recorded on the file,” the notice reads, according to Hindustan Times. Gahlot sought an immediate explanation from Mendiratta.
Sources close to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal told the newspaper that the government is not in a hurry the grant the sanction. The rules provide for three months’ time for the directorate of prosecution to convey its final decision. However, if the government fails to take decide within the time frame, the sanction is deemed granted.
The chargesheet was filed in the court on January 14 by the Delhi police, saying sanction for prosecution was pending before the government.