Admonishing ‘anti-national’ outlooks of the students from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), the High Court of Delhi granted a six-month interim bail to JNU students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar on Thursday. The court also ordered Kanhaiya to pledge to refrain from partaking in such activities either “actively” or “passively”.
“The thoughts reflected in the slogans raised by some of the students of JNU who organised and participated in that programme cannot be claimed to be protected as fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression,” said a 23-page ruling which granted the bail.
The court bench headed by Justice Pratibha Rani also observed that such activities are the result of an ‘infection’ that needs to be stunted before it transforms into an epidemic.
“Whenever some infection is spread in a limb, effort is made to cure the same by giving antibiotics orally and if that does not work, by following second line of treatment. Sometimes it may require surgical intervention also. However, if the infection results in infecting the limb to the extent that it becomes gangrene, amputation is the only treatment,” the court added in its ruling.
The court expressed hope that Kanhaiya would have used the time in prison to introspect the events that transpired.
