The Delhi High Court will hear multiple pleas related to the Jamia Millia University violence on Thursday, December 19. The various petitions including of Imam of Jama Masjid of Parliament House, lawyers Rizwan and Nabila Hasan would be heard by a division bench headed by Delhi High Court Chief Justice DN Patel.

jamia protest
The police have said that no student of the university was arrested.Twitter

Meanwhile, Delhi High Court's single-judge bench transferred the petition challenging detention, seeking relief and release of Jamia students, locals 'detained' during the protest to an HC's division bench headed by Delhi HC's Chief Justice DN Patel. The petition will be heard on Thursday along with other pleas related to protest.

Justice Vibhu Bakhru transferred the plea after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi apprised the court that all matters pertaining to Jamia Millia University should be heard by a bench headed by respective Chief Justice of that court.

The court was hearing a petition filed by lawyer Nabila Hasan and two students. Ladida Farzana and Ayesh Renna through advocate Sneha Mukherjee and Siddharth Seem, who has sought to quash all criminal proceedings initiated against students and to preserve the CCTV footage of all cameras in and around the universities.

The petitioner has approached the Delhi High court seeking the release of Jamia Millia University students and locals, who were detained during a protest against Citizen Amendment Act (CAA).

The plea also sought the court's direction to authorities concerned to provide medical care and monetary compensation to injured people as well as to set up a court-monitored committee headed by a retired High Court or Supreme Court Judge.

The petitioners blamed the forces for using extreme, ruthless and excessive physical force and violence against unarmed and peaceful students. The plea also raised questions over the use of "extreme" measures such as tear gas shells, chilli-based explosives and rubber bullets against the protesters.

"Therefore, the petitioners prayed before the High Court to direct the government to declare on their website the full list with names of students and residents of Jamia Milia Islamia University and Aligarh Muslim University that were detained by state police and paramilitary forces. They also sought direction to provide detained persons access to their family members and to legal counsel," the petition read.

The petition has also sought to ensure the safety of all students within JMI university campuses and to ensure that no student is forced to leave the campuses.

However, the police have said that no student of the university was arrested.

What is the protest all about?

jamia protest
Hisham Siddiqui, a Jamia Millia Islamia university student, who was injured during a protest on Sunday, talks to media outside a hospital in New Delhi, India, December 16, 2019. Picture taken December 16, 2019.Reuters

According to the Act, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, and facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

The Act says refugees of six communities will be given Indian citizenship after residing in India for five years, instead of 11 years earlier.