JNU Students Remain In Tihar Jail Despite Bail, Address Verification Delays Release

All the fourteen students from Jawaharlal Nehru University, who despite being granted bail on Friday, February 27, will remain in Tihar Jail over the weekend and possibly until Holi on March 4. However, the students are applying in in a higher court for the modification of the bail conditions.

Judge Animesh Kumar of the Patiala High Court granted all the 14 students on stringent the conditions including that the students will only get bail after verification of their permanent addresses as “they have been reluctant in disclosing their correct particulars and have not nominated their family members or friends for getting information of their arrest”.

The judge also mentioned that the students will be sent to 14 days judicial custody and be produced before the court on 13 March 2023.

JNUSU president Aditi Mishra, vice-president Gopika, joint secretary Danish Ali, former president Nitish Kumar, AISA national president Neha, along with Rahul Raj, Manikant Patel, Gowri Kolal, Ansh Pillai, Varkey Parakkal, Ranvijay Singh, Vicky Kumar, Shyam Sasi and freelance journalist Vishnu Tiwari, were produced before the duty magistrate at Patiala House Court at around 9 am on Friday.

The court noted that, as the accused are students with their careers ahead of them, they must furnish a surety of ₹25,000 each. Bail is subject to several conditions, including that they must attend all court hearings, and provide correct permanent and residential addresses along with an active phone number. They have been directed to keep their mobile phones switched on at all times.

Criticising the move, JNUSU said this was nothing but liberty on paper and incarceration in action. “Numerous requests were made to the magistrate judge to consider other pleas -like allowing the students to appear before the IO everyday, till the permanent addresses are verified, so that the liberty granted is not lost. However, no such appeal was entertained leaving the order liberty on paper but jail in reality,” said a statement by JNUSU.

According to N Sai Balaji, former national president of the All India Students’ Association (AISA), the magistrate granted bail immediately, noting that the Delhi Police had not sought police remand and instead asked for judicial custody. When the court rejected this request and approved bail, Balaji said it was clear the students should have been released the same day, as the sureties were already present.

However, he pointed out that the magistrate made the release conditional on verification of the students’ permanent addresses before the sureties could take effect. “This condition has thrown the entire bail process into disarray,” Balaji said, explaining that address verification could take several days. “Effectively, bail has been turned into jail. The students even agreed to alternative conditions, but they were not allowed.”

Earlier on Thursday afternoon, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) had organised a “Long March” to press a series of demands. These included the resignation of Vice-Chancellor Shantishree Dhulipudi Pandit over her alleged caste-related remarks in a recent podcast interview, the revocation of rustication orders against certain students, the implementation of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Equity Regulations 2026, and increased funding for public institutions.

They had wanted to march till the Union Ministry of Education office at Shastri Bhawan in Central Delhi.

The detentions followed clashes during a protest march where JNUSU demanded, among other demands, the vice-chancellor’s resignation, and an apology from the Delhi Police for damaging a portrait of B. R. Ambedkar. The protest began at around 2.30 pm, with ACP Ved Prakash of Vasant Kunj police station present. The police detained 51 students in phases, though only 14 were formally arrested and produced before Patiala House Court.

The unrest followed days of mounting tension at Jawaharlal Nehru University, sparked by remarks made by the vice-chancellor on University Grants Commission equity regulations. She was allegedly quoted as saying that Dalits could not progress by playing a “victim card”, a statement she later said had been misinterpreted.

Earlier, on the night of 22 February 2026, a separate clash broke out on the JNU campus between two student groups. The left-leaning JNUSU and the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) gave sharply contrasting accounts of what had occurred.

Visuals released by the students’ union appear to show stones being hurled at the encampment where the rusticated office-bearers had been staying. The footage shared by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) shows injured members, with the group alleging that its supporters were attacked by left-wing activists.

Earlier this month, four office-bearers of the students’ union, along with a former president, were rusticated for two semesters for protesting against surveillance measures in the central library. Since then, the union has maintained a sit-in at the SL–SIS lawns.

Police confirmed that three cases have been registered this week in connection with the incident and related developments. Two complaints were filed by the Jawaharlal Nehru University administration, accusing students of locking classrooms and engaging in physical altercations with faculty members and security staff, according to a police spokesperson.

Detailing the third case, a spokesperson from the South West district of the Delhi Police said: “FIR No. 76/26 dated 26.02.2026 under Sections 221/121(1)/132/3(5) of the BNS has been registered at Vasant Kunj North police station, and investigation has been taken up.” The complaint was lodged by a police constable, Yogender Singh, who alleged that a scuffle broke out between the police and students, during which barricades at the entrance gates to JNU were dismantled and ropes cut.

Criticising the actions of both the police and the university administration, JNU Professor Archana Prasad raised several questions. “What would have happened if the students had marched to the Ministry of Education?” she asked. “Why is the administration unconcerned about police barricades and deployment on campus? Policemen beat even girl students. This is illegal.”