Fighting broke out on Wednesday at an Indian court hearing a case against a left-wing student leader accused of sedition, a charge that has sparked protests across university campuses and criticism the government is curtailing free speech. Kanhaiya Kumar, head of the student union at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), was rushed from a car through a gate into the court by police officers protecting him with a riot shield.
He was later remanded in custody by the court until March 2. Lawyers chanting nationalist slogans earlier barged into the compound and threw stones at reporters, defying a Supreme Court order banning protests after a punch-up at a hearing on Monday. Wednesday's remand hearing was briefly adjourned as the Supreme Court rushed a team of commissioners to investigate, after lawyers for Kumar said he had been attacked inside the Patiala House court in New Delhi.
"A person has come dressed as a lawyer and beaten him up inside the court premises today," said defence lawyer Vrinda Grover. "The police couldn't do anything, it's a complete violation of the Supreme Court order." Kumar told the court he was manhandled on the way in and lost his shoes in the process. "I was rebuked, I was attacked," he said. Kumar, 28, was arrested at a student rally last week held to commemorate the anniversary of the execution of a Kashmiri separatist for his role in an attack on the Indian parliament in 2001.