HC slams CBI for not filing update in missing JNU student case

The case of missing Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Najeeb Ahmed was "not transferred to the CBI for fun", said the Delhi High Court on Tuesday while slamming the agency for not filing a fresh report regarding the investigation in the case.

A division bench of Justice G.S. Sistani and Justice Chander Shekhar slammed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for filing the same status report that it filed during the July 17 hearing.

The bench asked the CBI to file a fresh status report before the next date of hearing on September 6.

On July 17, the bench had asked the CBI to file a status report on the progress of the case.

On May 16, the Delhi High Court had asked the CBI to probe the case of Najeeb Ahmed, who has been untraced since he disappeared 10 months ago after an alleged altercation with some Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members.

The court had handed over the case to the CBI with immediate effect, after the Delhi Police Crime Branch said it had no objection if the court transferred the case to another probe agency.

The court has been hearing a habeas corpus plea filed by Fatima Nafees, Najeeb Ahmed's mother, that her son be produced by police and the Delhi government before the court.

Najeeb, 27, an M.Sc first-year student, went missing from his JNU hostel on the night of October 14-15 last year, allegedly after a heated exchange of words with members of the ABVP -- the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

The ABVP has, however, denied any involvement in his disappearance.

The counsel of Najeeb's mother had said that the nine suspected students, who assaulted and threatened Najeeb before he went missing, were given "VIP treatment" by Delhi Police and their custodial interrogation was not taken to date.

He further said there had been delays at every level and various lapses in the probe by Delhi Police. - IANS