JNU row: Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya move Delhi High Court for putting on hold their rustication

Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, who were rusticated from JNU, have moved Delhi High Court for putting on hold the disciplinary action taken against them by the varsity till their appeals against the decision are decided by the university’s appellate authority.

The two students in their applications have sought the same relief that was given to Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) President Kanhaiya Kumar and others against whom disciplinary action was taken by the varsity for a controversial event there on February 9 this year.

The relief was given to Kanhaiya and others by the High Court on May 13 after JNUSU undertook to immediately withdraw its hunger strike and not to indulge in any further agitation.In its May 13 order, the court had also said if the appeals of the students were rejected, then the order of appellate authority would not be given effect to till a period of two weeks.

Umar and Anirban, who along with Kanhaiya have been accused of sedition for what happened during the February 9 event, have said that they would be moving the appellate authority against the disciplinary action taken by JNU on the basis of recommendations of a high level enquiry committee (HLEC).

While Umar was rusticated for one semester and slapped with a fine of Rs 20,000, Anirban was rusticated till July 15 and after July 23 he was barred from the university campus for five years. Anirban was only given a week between July 16-22 to complete his thesis.

The applications have been filed in their petitions moved on May 9 challenging the disciplinary action against them. On May 10 when their matter was taken up, JNU had agreed in court to extend the date of deposit of fine, by Umar, to May 30.