Former DU lecturer SAR Geelani's judicial custody extended till 16 March

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday extended till 16 March the judicial custody of former Delhi University lecturer SAR Geelani, arrested on sedition charges. [caption id=“attachment_2655632” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] SAR Geelani. IBNLive[/caption] The hearing was conducted through video conference as Geelani was not produced before the court due to the security reasons. Geelani, who was arrested on 16 February in connection with an event at the Press Club of India here where anti-national slogans were allegedly raised, was earlier sent to judicial custody on 18 February. Police had earlier told the court that an event was held on 10 February in which banners were placed showing Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat as martyrs and anti-national slogans along with slogans demanding independence for Kashmir were raised. It had also said the hall in the club was booked by Geelani through one Ali Javed by using his credit card and another person Mudassar was also involved. Geelani’s counsel, however, had said he was only the convenor and the event was open for all. Geelani’s arrest has come amid the raging row over the arrest of JNU Students’ Union President Kanhaiya Kumar over sedition charges in connection with an event on February 9 at the varsity campus to commemorate the hanging of Guru. At the Press Club event, a group had allegedly shouted slogans hailing Guru, following which the police had lodged a case under sections 124A (sedition), 120B(criminal conspiracy) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the IPC against Geelani and other unnamed persons. The police had claimed to have registered the FIR taking suo motu cognisance of media clips of the incident. Following registration of the FIR, the police questioned for two consecutive days DU professor Javed, a Press Club member who had booked the hall for the event. Geelani was arrested in connection with the 2001 Parliament attack case but was acquitted for “need of evidence” by the Delhi High Court in October 2003, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in August 2005. PTI