JNU internal probe panel heads towards rough phase

The internal committee set up to probe the February 9 incident in the JNU campus, is apparently headed towards rough phase as dna has learnt that refusal of students/witness's to depose before the committee as well as surfacing of doctored videos has left the investigating team with very few options to conclude the probe with all parties agreeing to it's findings.

Sources also told dna, that the findings might be submitted on Wednesday and would be signed by the VC of the varsity even though questions on the credentials of the findings of the committee have been raised and the committee continues to be at the receiving end ever since it was formed last month.

While the committee became a target of the JNU teachers association for not including members belong to SC/ST community, the decision to suspend eight JNU students, six of whom were charged with sedition, including Kanhaiya Kumar, had been criticised by the varsity's faculty.

Even as controversies continued to mar the committee, a deposition by the University's registrar, in which he claimed that Kanhaiya, who was arrested by the Delhi police and released on bail after cops failed to provide evidence against him, was aware of the alleged anti-national event and had even questioned the administration decision on the cancellation of the event marking the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

dna has so learnt that two members of the committee have refused to sign on the initial findings of the team.

The story however does not end here. According to official sources, the fact that no student from JNU has deposed in front of the committee and the surfacing of doctored videos which went viral on social media leading to the of JNU president, had prompted the committee to trace the paper trail which eventually led to the February 9 incident.

"Two members of the committee have refused to sign on the findings of the committee as they believe that the way probe was carried was not proper. The fact eight students were debarred within hours of setting up of committee shows the haphazard way the team proceeded to probe the incident," said an official source.

The committee that was initially supposed to submit its report by February 25 has been given three extension and is now supposed to submit its report by March 11.

The source also added that there were glaring contractions in the statements made by the senior administration which are bound to effect the findings of the probe.

"Permission was given to students by the administration but there is no letter that says that the permission was later withdrawn on February 9. The administration had informed students about the cancellation of event around 4-45 p.m. but the Registrar has told the committee members that a security guard was sent to Umar Khalid around 3 p.m. to tell him that the permission has been cancelled," the source added.

This is however not the only contradictory statement given to the committee. While the Delhi police maintained that a cop dressed in civilian clothes was posted in the JNU on February 9 who informed the administration about the alleged anti- national event, the varsity's registrar in his deposition said that he was informed by an ABVP member (who is also office bearer in the student union) about then event.

When contacted, the members of the committee refused to speak to dna.