JNU row: Internal committee submits report; Anirban, Umar Khalid rusticated, Kanhaiya fined

The internal probe committee set up by the Jawahar Lal Nehru University to probe into the infamous JNU Row has submitted its report. The committee has rusticated student leader Umar Khalid for one semester, Anirban Bhattacharya till July 15 and Mujeeb Gattoo for two semesters. As per decision, Bhattacharya has been barred from pursuing any course in JNU for next 5 years from July 23. 

The committee has also imposed a Rs 10,000 fine on Kanhaiya Kumar for violating disciplinary norms. The student union leaders were arrested on sedition charges over the Feb 09 event sympathising with Afzal Guru. They were later released from the Tihar Jail on interim bail for 6 months in sedition case. 

The campus has been made out of bounds for two former students—Banojyotsana Lahiri and Draupadi—while hostel facilities have been withdrawn for Ashutosh Kumar for a year and Komal Mohite till July 21.

A high-level committee constituted by the university to probe the February 9 event found ABVP member Saurabh Sharma, who had objected to the event, “guilty” of blocking traffic on the day of the event and penalised him with Rs 20,000.

Surprisingly, Aishwarya Adhikari, whose name was not mentioned in the report, has also been imposed the same penalty.

Apart from Kanhaiya, the eight suspended students included Khalid, Bhattacharya, Ashutosh, Rama Naga, Anant Kumar, Shweta Raj and Aishwarya Adhikari. They were suspended on February 12 for their alleged involvement in organising an event to protest the hanging of the Parliament attack convict on his third death anniversary.

With PTI Inputs