Kanhaiya Kumar: PIL and 3 reports, hearing today in Supreme Court [Read petition + Reports]

The Supreme Court will today hear a petition filed by advocate Kamini Jaiswal seeking a SIT probe into the violence at Patiala House court complex. This petition comes after two rounds of mentioning by lawyers before the Bench presided by Justice Jasti Chelameswar..In her petition, Jaiswal has arraigned three lawyers – Vikram Chauhan, Yashpal Singh and Om Sharma as respondents besides the Central government, Delhi police and Bar Council of India. The petitioner, citing various media reports, has sought initiation of contempt action against the three lawyers and an investigation by a Special Investigation Team into the incidents of violence at Patiala House on February 15 and 17. The case is listed as item 52 in court 5..The Reports.Pursuant to the order of the Supreme Court, the Delhi Police, Registrar General of the Delhi High Court and the team of lawyers which visited the Patiala House court have submitted their reports to the Supreme Court. The reports narrate the events of February 17 from different viewpoints and vary greatly in tone and tenor. The following are excerpts from the three reports..Delhi Police report – Mob tried to manhandle accused, we thwarted the attempts.The report of the Delhi police is the most interesting of all the reports. The report states that lawyers had indeed tried to attack Kanhaiya but the policemen safely escorted him to and from the court. The “minor abrasions” he suffered were a result of “tripping” in the “commotion”, states the police. The report explains the details of the security arrangements afforded to Kumar and how the police thwarted repeated attempts to manhandle Kumar..“The accused Kanhiaya Kumar was brought by a team of police officers from South District and with the assistance of New Delhi District Police was escorted inside the court complex through the shortest possible route. A group of lawyers which had already assembled inside the court complex in various such groups emerged and tried to assault the accused from different sides. The ring round team & policemen deployed on the route surrounded him from all sides and gave body protection and thwarted repeated attempts to manhandle the accused. Lot of commotion followed but he was escorted safely to the courtroom by policemen despite some hiccups.”.The police report then states that the accused was medically examined and report of the medical examination only showed that he had minor abrasions on foot, toe and nose..“The MLC clearly shows that he had minor abrasions on foot and toe and on the nose. It was also found that one of the lawyers of the accused was trying to dictate and influence the doctor. In fact, one of the video clippings being shown in media clearly shows that policemen have thrown a protective ring surrounding and escorting him to the chamber of the Ld MM….”.The police also rejects the version of Kumar that he was manhandled inside the court room. The police report, however, does concede that lawyers were using force and abusive language and throwing objects including at the team of lawyers which came to the court on directions from the Supreme Court..“There was no man handling, beating or any kind of such incident with Kanhaiya Kumar within the court building and inside the courtroom on 17.02.2016 after he was brought to the court and until safely escorted to Tihar jail. During this attempted assault by the group of lawyers, ten policemen have also been injured. Pursuant to the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court it was ensured that only authorized lawyers and media persons were allowed in the trial court room without the mobile phones. Subsequent to the ensuing melee, few projectiles were also hurled towards different groups and on the visiting lawyers who had come on the direction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. This was coupled with liberal dose of abusive language…”.Interestingly, the police has justified its refusal to use force on lawyers citing various factors including previous instances, and fear of stampede etc. According to the police version, lathi charge, use of water cannons etc. will be useful in only open spaces when the agitators can flee; But use of the same in a closed complex with buildings could cause stampede..“Past experiences as those witnessed in Delhi in early 1980s and Jaipur, Chennai, Allahabad etc. have clearly shown that the police has always been at the receiving end and has been castigated for either excessive use of force or for not exercising enough restraint in tackling lawyers in the court premises…Hence the police personnel deployed in the court premises were asked to exercise restraint till the situation warranted retributive action. That lawyers were supposed to act as pillars of democracy and defend human rights could resort to reprehensible activities like physical assault, blocking of the gates, targeting the media persons, chasing the students etc. could not be visualised in normal cognition.”.Six lawyers, two reports.The largest and most discussed of all the reports is the report submitted by the team of.lawyers deputed by the Supreme Court to take stock of the situation. What is interesting is that of the six lawyers who visited Patiala House, only five lawyers have signed the common report while Senior Advocate Ajit Kumar Sinha, who was also part of the team, has given a separate, one-page and much less damning report..Main report.The main report traces the minutest details that the lawyers were privy to on that day. The report explains in details about the happening as witnessed by the team members themselves and also as gathered from Kanhaiya Kumar, his lawyers and police officers at Patiala House. Excerpts from the report:.“At the entrance, there were barricades at a distance of 5 to 10 feet behind where there was a large mob of lawyers shouting slogans. The atmosphere was surcharged and intimidating. The committee members entered the court building and went straight to the court room on the right hand side where the lawyer of the accused, Ms. Vrinda Grover was present with her other colleagues. She was terrified. ..”.The report then explains the conversation between the committee members and various people present including Grover, Kanhaiya Kumar and police officers including DCP Jatin Narwal. The report also speaks about the accused’s statement to the committee..“According to the accused, they have come right inside from the entrance gate and out of them one person from the mob managed to get inside the court room and sat behind the accused. According to the accused, he immediately informed the faculty member, Mr. Himanshu that the person sitting behind was the person who had assaulted him earlier and he had identified him. The police then asked the said person as to what was he doing? To which the said person replied to the police in uniform as to who are they and asked them to show their id cards. ..according to the accused, the said person left after attacking him in front of the police and the police did nothing.”.The report states that the Registrar General refused to acknowledge that the accused was hit in his presence though he agreed that an unauthorized person was present in the court. When quizzed about what he did about the presence of an unauthorized person, the Registrar General said that he had asked the policemen present to arrest the person thought they did not..“According to the Registrar General, the said request was made to the DCP. He said that the DCP Mr. Jatin Narwal was also there. It was then that DCP Jatin Narwal was asked by Mr. Sibal as to why he did not arrest that man despite the Registrar General asking him to do so. The DCP flatly refused that he was asked by Registrar General to make the arrest to which the Registrar General reiterated saying that he did ask the DCP to make the arrest.”.The report states that after gathering facts from the court rooms, the members of the committee left for Supreme Court but were in for greater trouble as lawyers tried to break the security cordon and threw objects at them and abused them. The report says that the committee members were able to return safely only due to the security provided by the Supreme Court security police..“On their way out abuses were shouted and hurled on Mr. Sibal and other committee members….sandstones were thrown on the members of the committee. Even a sharp piece of a broken flower pot was thrown. The intimidating shouting and chanting of slogans continued. That but for the safety ring provided by the officers of the Supreme court security police, it would not have been possible for the committee members to come out unscathed.”.Ajit Kumar Sinha’s one pager.Sinha, who was representing the Delhi police that day, was part of the six member team that visited Patiala House. His report also acknowledges the presence of lawyers who abused and threw substances at them. The report records the Registrar General’s statement that unauthorised persons had indeed entered the court room. The report states that both the Registrar General and the police denied that the accused was manhandled inside the court room. The report is short and ends by saying that the accused was medically examined by a doctor who was called into the court complex and the visiting team left at 4 pm..Registrar General, Delhi High Court – Did not witness the violence.As per his report, the Registrar General reached the Patiala House court complex at about 1.10 pm and apprised the police officials about the directions of the Supreme Court. The police followed the directions of the Supreme Court in allowing advocates and reporters into court room 4 where the hearing was scheduled. The Registrar General himself was in court room 3 along with some other judicial officers..His report further states that the accused was produced in court room 3 at around 2.50 pm and he was disheveled. When he enquired as to whether the accused was assaulted, the accused replied in the affirmative. When the accused was produced, a commotion had ensued and the Registrar saw a person in plain clothes inside the courtroom. He directed the police officers present in the court to arrest that person who, by then, had left. The report then details the events subsequent to that including the arrival of lawyers’ team from Supreme Court and medical examination of the accused. The key aspect of the Registrar’s report is that he did not witness any of the violence or thrashing which Kanhaiya Kumar allegedly received. He, however, makes it clear that persons who were not authorised had gained access to the courtroom despite police presence..Besides these, a report has also been submitted by Kanhaiya’s lawyers who were present in Patiala House on February 17..[Update]: The Court today issued notice to the three lawyers in the plea seeking contempt of court action against them..[Click here to read all the reports].Read the petition below.