On 9 February 2016 an event at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi marking the anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's hanging went ahead after the university withdrew permission, and videos aired on TV allegedly showed anti-India slogans. Police arrested students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar for sedition on 12 February, and Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya on 23 February. The arrests, assaults on Kumar and journalists at Patiala House court, and a fight over doctored videos set off protests and counter-protests across India. Police filed a chargesheet against 10 people in January 2019, but the trial has been on hold since 2022 while the Supreme Court reviews the sedition law.
Key takeaways
- A 9 February 2016 JNU event marking Afzal Guru's hanging went ahead after permission was withdrawn; a sedition FIR followed on complaints from a BJP MP and the ABVP.
- Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on 12 February 2016, and Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya on 23 February; all three were on regular bail by August 2016.
- Men in lawyers' robes assaulted journalists, students, teachers and Kumar at Patiala House court on 15 and 17 February; the NHRC faulted Delhi Police.
- A Delhi government probe found some aired clips doctored and no evidence that Kumar raised anti-India slogans; Delhi Police say the videos it relies on are genuine.
- The chargesheet came in January 2019 and sanction in February 2020, but the trial has been stayed since July 2022 pending the Supreme Court's review of the sedition law.
Background: the 9 February event
The event at Sabarmati Dhaba on the JNU campus was first proposed as a poetry reading titled "The Country Without A Post Office" and was given permission. After posters indicated it was being held to mark the anniversary of Afzal Guru's execution, the university withdrew permission, but the event went ahead, according to the police chargesheet Scroll. The permission was cancelled after a complaint from the ABVP, the RSS-linked student group, which called the event "anti-national" LiveLaw/PTI.
TV channels then aired videos they said showed students shouting "anti-India" slogans. On 11 February Delhi Police registered an FIR under Sections 124A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code against unknown persons at Vasant Kunj (North) police station. It was based on complaints from BJP MP Maheish Girri and JNU ABVP leader Saurabh Sharma, and on the video and TV footage Scroll.
Timeline
Campus event
The event goes ahead at Sabarmati Dhaba despite the withdrawn permission Scroll.
Sedition FIR
FIR registered against unknown persons on complaints from a BJP MP and the ABVP LiveLaw/PTI.
Kanhaiya Kumar arrested
The JNUSU president is arrested and remanded to three days' police custody LiveLaw/PTI.
Kumar attacked at court
Kumar is hit while being taken into Patiala House despite Supreme Court directions; he is sent to judicial custody till 2 March The Wire.
Interim bail and speech
The Delhi High Court grants Kumar six months' interim bail; he is released from Tihar on 3 March and speaks on campus that night Tribune.
Chargesheet
Delhi Police file a chargesheet against 10 people at Patiala House court LiveLaw/PTI.
Sanction to prosecute
The Delhi government's Home Department grants sanction Scroll.
Trial stayed
After the Supreme Court's May 2022 order on sedition, the trial court stays the trial Scroll.
The arrests
Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on 12 February. Police said he had raised anti-India slogans at the event The News Minute/PTI. On 17 February he gave police a statement saying he was "an Indian", did not support anti-national activity and believed in the Constitution The Wire.
Police later named Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, both doctoral students. They surrendered and were arrested on 23 February Scroll.
The Patiala House court attacks
On 15 February, ahead of Kumar's remand hearing, at least ten journalists and several students were assaulted by lawyers and a Delhi BJP MLA inside and outside the Patiala House court complex, LiveLaw reported. Police present allegedly did not intervene LiveLaw. Nine journalists filed complaints at Tilak Marg police station, and a Kairali TV reporter was taken to hospital. BJP MLA OP Sharma was accused of beating a CPI activist outside the court LiveLaw.
On 17 February the Supreme Court had said only prosecution and defence lawyers should be in the courtroom. Kumar was still roughed up and hit while being brought in, and stones and bricks were thrown at journalists. A team of six senior lawyers the Supreme Court sent to the court, including Kapil Sibal and Rajiv Dhawan, told it that Delhi Police was not doing its duty The Wire.
Claim · Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi described 15 February as "more in the shape of scuffles" LiveLaw, and said of 17 February that there was a lot of "jostling" The Wire. Documented The NHRC's inquiry report found "serious dereliction of duty" by Delhi Police and said it "did not do anything to prevent the assault" on Kumar. In a TV sting, lawyer Vikram Chauhan was seen saying "We thrashed him for three hours" LiveLaw.
In July 2016 police filed three chargesheets: against lawyers Vikram Singh Chauhan, Yashpal Singh and Om Sharma for the 15 February attack on journalists; against OP Sharma for the assault on the CPI activist; and against Chauhan and Yashpal for assaulting an advocate on 17 February. The assault on Kumar himself was still being probed Legally India/IANS. The outcome of those cases was not found in the sources reviewed.
The doctored video dispute
The Delhi government ordered a magisterial inquiry on 13 February. It sent seven video clips to Truth Labs in Hyderabad The Quint. Reports of the findings differ:
- The Quint, citing sources, said two clips were "manipulated", with voices of people not in the clips added, and the rest were authentic The Quint.
- A PTI report said the probe found three of the seven clips doctored, including one news channel clip, while the lab said two were "manipulated" The News Minute/PTI.
Documented The probe by New Delhi District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar found no evidence that Kumar raised anti-India slogans. It also said anti-national slogans were chanted and that people "clearly" heard raising them should be traced. The Delhi government said it would file criminal cases against three TV channels it did not name The News Minute/PTI. No outcome of those cases was found.
Claim · Delhi Police Police officials said in 2019 that the videos in their probe had nothing to do with those aired on TV, that raw footage had been sent to a forensic lab, and that all videos in the chargesheet were genuine. Scroll reported that at least one police video came from Zee News, which had been accused of airing doctored footage Scroll.
Protests and counter-protests
JNU students went on strike after the 15 February violence and the JNU Teachers' Association joined them LiveLaw. Noam Chomsky, Orhan Pamuk and 86 other academics abroad signed a statement condemning "the culture of authoritarian menace" Tribune/PTI. On 16 February scores of journalists marched to the Supreme Court CPJ.
On 17 February three office-bearers of the ABVP's own JNU unit, including joint secretary Pradeep Narwal, resigned. They said slogans raised on 9 February were "very unfortunate" and those responsible must be punished, but called the government's handling and the court attacks "unjustifiable" PTI via Eastern Mirror.
On 21 February thousands led by ex-servicemen marched from Rajghat to Jantar Mantar against "anti-national" activity at JNU, a march the BJP and RSS were believed to have mobilised, PTI reported Tribune/PTI. On 23 February more than 5,000 people joined a "Chalo Delhi" rally at Jantar Mantar over Rohith Vemula's suicide and JNU, including about 2,000 JNU students, and Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal addressed it Governance Now. The next day the ABVP marched from Ramlila Maidan to Jantar Mantar Free Press Journal. On 15 March thousands marched from Mandi House to Parliament Street for Khalid and Bhattacharya's release Feminism in India.
Both accounts
Students' and opposition account
Kumar said he was "falsely implicated" and denied raising anti-national slogans LiveLaw. His lawyer said the slogans were raised by people with covered faces, that Kumar was seen asking them for identity cards, and that no FIR was filed that day although plainclothes police were present LiveLaw. Rahul Gandhi, who visited the campus, said: "A youngster expresses his views and the government says he is anti-national" Business Today. Congress accused Rajnath Singh of "communalising" the issue, and Sitaram Yechury and Omar Abdullah asked for proof of the Hafiz Saeed claim Deccan Chronicle The News Minute. In 2019 Khalid said the chargesheet, filed before the general election, was meant to "deflect attention" from the government's failures The Quint.
Government, BJP, ABVP and police account
Government's position Home Minister Rajnath Singh said: "The incident at JNU has received support from Hafiz Saeed. This is a truth that the nation needs to understand." He said nothing should be done that "puts a question mark over the country's sovereignty and integrity" and that police "must have acted on the basis of some evidence". The Home Ministry said the remark was based on input from security agencies The News Minute. Critics asked whether it rested on a tweet from a fake account, and Congress leader Digvijay Singh asked which agency had given the input Deccan Chronicle. Police Commissioner Bassi said on 17 February, "We have adequate evidence against him," and ruled out a clean chit The News Minute/PTI. BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said, "Those who engage in anti-national will find themselves behind bars" Tribune/PTI. The ABVP marched against those it said were justifying slogans in support of Afzal Guru Free Press Journal.
Claim · Delhi Police At a High Court bail hearing on 29 February, police said they did not have video showing Kumar shouting anti-India slogans Scroll. The 2019 chargesheet says video shows him "leading the students, who were raising anti-national slogans", though senior officials said he is not seen sloganeering directly in any clip Scroll.
Interim bail and Kanhaiya Kumar's speech
On 2 March 2016 Justice Pratibha Rani granted Kumar six months' interim bail on a Rs 10,000 bond, with a JNU faculty member as surety and an undertaking not to take part in anti-national activity. The order described the views in the slogans as "a kind of infection from which such students are suffering which needs to be controlled/cured before it becomes an epidemic" LiveLaw. Kumar had spent 22 days in custody The Quint.
He was released from Tihar on 3 March, with Professor SN Malakar as surety, and gave an hour-long speech on campus that night. Among the lines reported by the Tribune: "We are not asking for freedom from India, but asking for freedom within India" Tribune. Union minister Venkaiah Naidu responded that he was "getting publicity" The News Minute.
JNU's inquiry and the High Court
JNU's high-level enquiry committee reported on 16 March 2016. It concluded that masked outsiders raised provocative slogans, and noted there was no video evidence for some slogans that witnesses alleged Scroll. Under an order dated 25 April 2016 the university fined Kumar Rs 10,000, rusticated Khalid and fined him Rs 20,000, and barred Bhattacharya from campus for five years Scroll LiveLaw LiveLaw.
In May 2016 the Delhi High Court refused an immediate stay Scroll. An appellate authority headed by the Vice Chancellor upheld findings against 21 students The News Minute. On 12 October 2017 the High Court set aside the action against 15 students, ruling they had not had a fair chance to defend themselves, and sent it back to the university The Quint LiveLaw. On 5 July 2018 JNU again upheld Khalid's rustication and Kumar's fine Scroll. On 20 July 2018 the High Court called the order against Kumar "illegal, irrational and irregular" and, after JNU agreed to recall it, ordered fresh proceedings LiveLaw. The court also barred coercive action against Khalid The Quint. No final outcome was found in the sources reviewed.
The chargesheet and sanction
On 14 January 2019 Delhi Police's Special Cell filed a chargesheet that The Quint put at about 1,200 pages The Quint. It accused Kumar, Khalid, Bhattacharya and seven Kashmiri men under IPC Sections 124A, 323, 465, 471, 143, 149, 147 and 120B. Another 36 people, including Shehla Rashid and D Raja's daughter Aparajita, were listed in column 12 for insufficient evidence LiveLaw/PTI. Police cited video, call records, witness statements and pamphlets naming Khalid and Bhattacharya as organisers. Khalid was also accused of forgery over a venue booking form Scroll.
Sedition needs government sanction. The sanction sat with the AAP-run Delhi government, and BJP leaders accused AAP of shielding the students Scroll. Sanction was granted on 27 February 2020, and the court took cognisance in February 2021, summoning all 10 accused Tribune/PTI. AAP MLA Raghav Chadha called it "purely a procedural matter". Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari welcomed it but said it probably reflected the "current political situation". Kumar asked for a speedy trial in a fast-track court Scroll.
Outcome
- Arrests: Three in February 2016; all on regular bail since 26 August 2016.
- Chargesheet: 10 accused, 36 more named without charges (January 2019); sanction granted 27 February 2020.
- Videos: Two or three of seven clips found doctored in the Delhi government's probe.
- Court violence: Three chargesheets in July 2016 against three lawyers and BJP MLA OP Sharma.
- University penalties: Set aside by the Delhi High Court in 2017 and 2018.
Where the case stands
In May 2022 the Supreme Court ordered all proceedings under Section 124A kept in abeyance. In July 2022 the trial court stayed the JNU trial. In August 2025 the Supreme Court agreed to also examine Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which mirrors sedition. Since 2022 the trial court has listed the case at least 14 times; on 13 January 2026 it was adjourned to 16 April 2026. Kumar's lawyer Chinmay Kanojia said there has been "no real movement in the case" Scroll. No report of the April hearing was found.
Kumar joined the Congress in 2021, and Khalid has been in jail since 2020 in the separate Delhi riots conspiracy case Scroll.
Questions people ask
Why was Kanhaiya Kumar arrested?
Delhi Police arrested him on 12 February 2016 under a sedition FIR over the 9 February event marking Afzal Guru's hanging, where anti-India slogans were allegedly raised. Police said they had adequate evidence; he denied raising the slogans.
Did Kanhaiya Kumar raise anti-India slogans?
He denies it. The Delhi government's magisterial probe found no evidence that he did, and police told the High Court in February 2016 they had no video of him shouting them. The 2019 chargesheet says video shows him "leading" students who raised slogans.
Were the JNU videos doctored?
A forensic lab used by the Delhi government's probe found that some of the seven clips it tested were manipulated: two per The Quint, three per a PTI report on the probe, depending on how the news channel clip is counted. Delhi Police say the videos in its chargesheet are genuine.
Is the JNU sedition case still going on?
Yes, but the trial is stayed. The trial court stayed it in July 2022 after the Supreme Court put sedition cases in abeyance, and it was still being adjourned in 2026.
What happened at Patiala House court?
On 15 and 17 February 2016 men in lawyers' robes assaulted journalists, JNU students and teachers, and Kumar himself. The NHRC faulted Delhi Police, and three lawyers and BJP MLA OP Sharma were chargesheeted in July 2016.
Sources
- Scroll: Why has the JNU sedition case gone nowhere in a decade?, 17 Feb 2026
- LiveLaw/PTI: Delhi Police files chargesheet against Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and others, 14 Jan 2019
- Scroll: JNU 'sedition' case: unanswered questions in the chargesheet, 15 Jan 2019
- The Quint: Delhi Police name Umar, Kanhaiya in charge sheet, 14 Jan 2019
- The News Minute: Controversy over Rajnath Singh linking JNU protest to Hafiz Saeed, 14 Feb 2016
- Deccan Chronicle: Rajnath Singh communalising JNU issue, says Congress, 15 Feb 2016
- LiveLaw: Lawyers thrash students, teachers and journalists outside Patiala House Courts, 16 Feb 2016
- CPJ: Court reporters beaten by lawyers in latest attack on press freedom in India, 19 Feb 2016
- The Wire: Kanhaiya attacked at court, SC team says police not doing its duty, 17 Feb 2016
- LiveLaw: SC slams police over attack on Kanhaiya inside Patiala House courtroom, 11 Apr 2016
- Legally India: Delhi cops file chargesheets in Patiala House violence, 23 Jul 2016
- The News Minute/PTI: Bassi says 'adequate evidence' against Kanhaiya Kumar, 17 Feb 2016
- The Quint: Forensic test finds two videos of Feb 9 event doctored, 2 Mar 2016
- The News Minute/PTI: Delhi govt to file criminal cases against three news channels, 7 Mar 2016
- Eastern Mirror/PTI: ABVP leaders quit over JNU crisis, 18 Feb 2016
- Tribune/PTI: Thousands rally against 'anti-national' activities in JNU, 22 Feb 2016
- Governance Now: Voices of dissent at Jantar Mantar, 24 Feb 2016
- Free Press Journal: JNU row: Massive march by ABVP, 24 Feb 2016
- Feminism in India: When thousands marched to #StandWithJNU, 18 Mar 2016
- Business Today: Sedition case against Rahul and Kejriwal over JNU row, 29 Feb 2016
- LiveLaw: Delhi High Court grants interim bail to Kanhaiya Kumar, 2 Mar 2016
- The Quint: What the judge said while granting interim bail to Kanhaiya Kumar, 2 Mar 2016
- Tribune: Kanhaiya arrives on JNU campus, delivers fiery speech, 4 Mar 2016
- The News Minute: Kanhaiya's speech wows supporters, gets grudging respect from opponents, 4 Mar 2016
- Scroll: Delhi High Court refuses to stay JNU order to rusticate Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, 10 May 2016
- The News Minute: Delhi HC asks JNU not to take action against Kanhaiya, others, 6 Sep 2016
- The Quint: HC sets aside JNU disciplinary action against Kanhaiya, 14 others, 12 Oct 2017
- LiveLaw: Delhi HC sets aside JNU's disciplinary action against Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Anirban, 12 others, 12 Oct 2017
- LiveLaw: Delhi HC sets aside JNU's penalty on Kanhaiya Kumar, 20 Jul 2018
- Scroll: Delhi HC tells JNU not to take coercive steps against Kanhaiya Kumar for now, 18 Jul 2018
- The Quint: JNU refuses to accept Umar Khalid's PhD thesis, 19 Jul 2018
- Scroll: Delhi government gives permission to prosecute Kanhaiya Kumar, others, 28 Feb 2020
- Scroll: Kanhaiya Kumar and nine others to face trial, summoned on March 15, 16 Feb 2021
- Tribune/PTI: Delhi court takes cognisance of chargesheet against Kanhaiya Kumar, others, 16 Feb 2021