Delhi HC Allows CBI to File Closure Report in Missing JNU Student Najeeb Case

New Delhi: The Delhi high court, on Monday, allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file a closure report in the case of JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, who went missing from the university nearly two years ago.

A bench of justices S. Muralidhar and Vinod Goel “declined” the plea of the missing student’s mother, Fatima Nafees, to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and monitor the probe, thereby removing the CBI from the investigation.

The bench said Nafees, who had moved the high court in November 2016 seeking directions to the police to trace her son, “can raise all contentions available to her before the trial court” and disposed of the plea.

The court had reserved its verdict in the case on September 4.

The CBI, which had taken over the probe on May 16 last year, had after more than a year of investigation said it had looked into all the aspects of the case and was of the opinion that no offence was committed against the missing student.

Ahmed had gone missing from the Mahi-Mandvi hostel of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) here on October 15, 2016, following a scuffle with some students allegedly affiliated to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) the previous night.

The lawyer for Nafees had contended before the court that it was a “political case” and that the “CBI has succumbed to the pressure of its masters”.

Nafees had moved the high court on November 25, 2016, seeking directions to the police to trace her son.

However, as the Delhi Police remained clueless about Ahmed’s whereabouts even after seven months since he went missing, the probe was handed over to the CBI on May 16 last year.

The Delhi Police had not opposed the handing over of the investigation in the case, saying it had done its bit in the matter.

The counsel for Nafees had earlier said nine students were named in a complaint filed by 18 students, who were eyewitnesses to the alleged assault on Ahmed, yet they were not interrogated.

The nine students named in the complaint have denied all the allegations against them.

Following is the chronology of events in JNU student Najeeb Ahmed’s disappearance case:

October 14, 2016: Najeeb goes missing after altercation with some ABVP students.

October 18: JNU seeks CBI, NCRB’s help to trace missing student.

October 20: Home minister Rajnath Singh asks police to set up special team to trace JNU student.

October 24: Delhi police declares Rs 1 lakh reward for information on Najeeb.

November 25: Najeeb’s mother moves Delhi HC for tracing son. HC issues notice to Delhi government and police asking them to explain their stand.

November 28: Delhi Police raises reward for information on Najeeb to Rs 10 lakh.

November 28: HC asks city police to “cut across all political barriers” and to find Najeeb as no one can just vanish from the heart of the national capital.

December 9: HC slams cops for failure to trace Najeeb as police clueless about him even after 55 days.

December 14 : HC orders police to scan the entire JNU campus, including hostels, classrooms and rooftops, of the varsity by using sniffer dogs.

December 19: More than 600 cops, sniffer dogs search JNU campus to get clues on Najeeb.

December 22 : HC asks Delhi police to do everything possible to find Najeeb and suggest to the police to conduct lie-detector test on his roommate and the nine suspects in the case.

January 28, 2017: Najeeb’s family alleges harassment by Delhi Police by conducting pre-dawn searches at their house at Badaun.

February 13: HC “foxed” by lack of information on Najeeb’s whereabouts; family seeks to handover probe to some other agency.

March 30: Magisterial court rejects nine suspect students’ plea against polygraph test and summons them to appear on April 6.

May 3: Sessions court sets aside the magisterial court order. However, allows police to send them a fresh notice.

May 15: Police files charge sheet in case related to making ransom call to relatives of Najeeb demanding Rs 20 lakh for his release.

May 16: HC transfers missing JNU student case to CBI with immediate effect and the probe to be supervised by an officer, not less than the rank of a DIG.

November 14: CBI tells HC it has sent suspect students mobile phones to its forensic lab and was awaiting the report of analysis.

April 2, 2018: HC pulls up CBI’s forensic lab in Chandigarh for laxity in examining the suspect students’ mobile phones.

May 11: Nearly a year after being handed over the probe, CBI tells HC that no evidence found to show any crime was committed.

July 12: CBI tells HC it was seriously contemplating filing a closure report in the missing case.

September 4: HC reserves judgement in the case after CBI says it has investigated the case from all possible angles and has not got any clue on Najeeb. The agency said it wants to file a closure report.

October 8: Nearly two years after he went missing from JNU, the Delhi high court allows CBI to file closure report in the investigation. HC disposes of Ahmed’s mother’s plea seeking directions to police to trace her son. HC also declines her plea to set up a SIT and monitor investigation. It says she can raise all contentions before trial court.