Will fight sedition charges against Kanhaiya Kumar legally & politically, says CPI

Reacting on the JNU sedition case against the former president of JNUSU Kanhaiya Kumar, the Communist Party of India said that it will support its leader and fight the charges both legally and politically. The party also alleged that the AAP government in New Delhi had succumbed to political pressure.

New Delhi:The CPI on Saturday said that it will fight both "legally and politically" the sedition case against its leader Kanhaiya Kumar and alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the national capital had "succumbed to political pressure".

The Delhi government on Friday gave a go-ahead to the city police to prosecute former JNUSU president Kumar and nine others in connection with a four-year-old sedition case, as the ruling AAP denied the persistent BJP charge of blocking the proceedings in the matter.

"The national secretariat of the Communist Party of India (CPI) will fight legally and politically the sedition charges against party national executive member and former president of the JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) Kanhaiya Kumar. The party is confident that Kanhaiya Kumar will come out unscathed as the charges are false and politically motivated," the CPI said in a statement.

Read:|Delhi govt gives nod to prosecute Kanhaiya in sedition case

The party feels that it is unfortunate that the Arvind Kejriwal government has "succumbed to political pressure and granted permission to prosecute Kumar", it said.

"It may be recalled here that the chief minister (Kejriwal) himself had in the beginning said that there is no case of sedition against Kanhaiya and videos were doctored. We are yet to ascertain why this sudden change of heart has happened," the statement said.

The party said that it will soon secure a copy of the Delhi government's standing counsel's recommendations which had not given sanction for the prosecution.

"The party vehemently opposes the move to implicate Kanhaiya Kumar in a false sedition case and urges all its units and mass organisations to protest peacefully against the prosecution move," the statement said.

PTI report

Read:|Sedition law being misused, want speedy trial: Kanhaiya Kumar on prosecution order