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Bassi's U-turn on Kanhaiya bail plea reflects his confused state of mind

Saurav Datta | Updated on: 14 February 2017, 5:45 IST

Last week Delhi's police commissioner BS Bassi said that his department would not oppose JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar's bail application, if he moves the High Court.

Today, Bassi has changed his mind. He is now saying that if Kanhaiya gets bail it would impact investigations.

It has become extremely difficult to take Bassi seriously. Even the Delhi Police's Special Public Prosecutor Shailendra Babbar doesn't seem to think very highly of Bassi's opinions.

"What Bassi said was his personal opinion and not the official line of the Delhi Police," Babbar told Catch.

Also read: #PatialaHouse violence: 'Cop out' Bassi has become a liability for Delhi

What Babbar basically means is that Delhi's police commissioner is deviating, even contradicting the official line of the Delhi Police, in an ongoing investigation involving sedition charges.

To justify his U-turn, Bassi used a weapon he has consistently used whenever he has been pushed to a corner: vagueness.

"Circumstances have changed; our tactics are dynamic and we wouldn't hesitate to use them," Bassi said cryptically.

Now Bassi has gone a step further. In an interview on Tuesday, he says that even questioning the sedition charges is blasphemous. A day earlier he had said that it was up to the students to prove their innocence. It seems the police chief has lost his sense of proportion in their entire case.

A series of goof-ups

The Delhi police in general, and Bassi in particular, have embarrassed themselves from the beginning of this entire row.

It began on 12 February, with the arrest of Kanhaiya and police raids on JNU campus which, by many accounts, were excessive.

Also read: With a stellar record of ineptness, does Bassi deserve a post-retirement job?

On 15 February, goons led by BJP MLA OP Sharma beat up journalists, JNU students and teachers as the police looked on. No action was taken against Sharma and the goons even though their violence was captured on camera.

On 17 February, a group of lawyers thrashed Kanhaiya Kumar inside court premises. Far from providing safety to the undertrial, police personnel ended up at the receiving end of the goons' punches.

In a sting operation conducted by Aaj Tak, the lead mobster Vikram Singh Chauhan, is seen boasting how he and his men bashed up Kanhaiya and the police were powerless to do anything.

Edited by Aditya Menon

Also read: The BS of Bassi: 5 jobs tailored for Delhi's Police Commissioner post-retirement

First published: 23 February 2016, 7:04 IST
 
Saurav Datta @SauravDatta29

Saurav Datta works in the fields of media law and criminal justice reform in Mumbai and Delhi.