JNU students get bail

Jawaharlal Nehru University students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya walked out of Tihar jail on Friday. A Court of Additional Sessions Judge granted them an interim bail for six months. Both are facing charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy. They have been given bail on ground of parity with their co-accused and Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union leader Kanhaiya Kumar. The court also observed that both Umar and Anirban were "highly educated persons”, currently pursuing PhD from the JNU. "When all the aforesaid circumstances are weighed together and keeping in view that no previous criminal record of any nature whatsoever has been alleged and the fact that nothing has been brought on record which could indicate that they are likely to abscond from the jurisdiction of the court, then besides the ground of parity vis-a-vis release of Kanhaiya Kumar on bail, I deem it appropriate to release both the accused on interim bail for a period of six months,” additional sessions judge Reetesh Singh noted. DHNS