Delhi high court asks two JNU students to surrender

The Delhi high court on Tuesday refused to grant interim protection from arrest to two JNU students - Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya - facing sedition charges over staging anti-India protests and trying to make a martyr of hanged terrorist Afzal Guru, and instead asked them to surrender before the police.

The high court made it clear that Omar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya will have to surrender and follow the due process of law. The court, however, allowed the two JNU students to surrender at a place of their choice.

The police, however, opposed this.

Delhi police strongly objected to surrender at an undisclosed location and time as suggested by Omar Khalid's lawyer.

On Wednesday, the court will continue hearing on their plea seeking security before they surrender in court.

The two are among the five JNU students who had gone missing from the campus since 12 February after JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested in the sedition case for allegedly raising anti-India slogans in a controversial event at the premises.

The three others are Ashutosh Kumar, Rama Naga and Anant Prakash Narayan.

A bench of justices B D Ahmed and R K Gauba agreed to grant urgent hearing to the plea of Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, which said that there is a threat to their lives and sought police protection while surrendering.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Court agreed to hear a plea filed by the two JNU students seeking security before they surrender to police in a sedition case.

"Let the matter be listed today," the bench said.

The high court on Tuesday had also directed the city police to file by Wednesday a status report of its investigation in the sedition case in which JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar has been arrested.

The court's direction came while hearing Kanhaiya's bail plea which was opposed by Delhi Police.