Delhi HC Disposes of JNU Student Najeeb’s Disappearance Case

The Delhi High Court on October 8 disposed of the habeas corpus petition filed by Fatima Nafees – mother of Najeeb Ahmed who had mysteriously gone missing since October 15, 2016 from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) where he was pursuing M.Sc. (Biotechnology).

Accepting the contention of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) – which was probing the case – that it did not find any evidence of the 27-year-old being assaulted at his Mahi Mandavi Hostel allegedly by students associated with the right-wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) a day before he went missing, a bench comprising Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel allowed the central investigating agency to file a closure report, and said the petitioner can raise her grievances before the trial court, where the closure report will be filed.

The court declined the plea that the case be transferred to a Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Terming the verdict a “setback” for them, the aggrieved mother has now decided to knock on the door of the Supreme Court. “I am heartbroken at this verdict. The CBI has conducted the most biased investigation, and its sole objective has been to shield those who assaulted my son. I still retain faith in the judiciary and will not stop until I find justice for my son,” she told Newsclick, adding that “the setback will not deter us from our struggle for justice for Najeeb. I will challenge this order in the Supreme Court”.

The investigation in this case – she said – has shown the “blatant political interference at the highest levels and the extent to which institutions such as the Delhi Police and the CBI have been severely compromised under the Modi government”.

“Despite repeated appeals and protests and strongest arguments made in the court, both the CBI and the Delhi Police have stubbornly refused to investigate into the assault against Najeeb the night before he disappeared,” she alleged.

But, the court refused to acknowledge the allegation of “larger political interference” in the case.

Najeeb’s alleged assaulters, who are ABVP members, have been represented at various points by the most expensive and high profile lawyers.

Commenting on the verdict, JNU Students Union (JNUSU) President N. Sai Balaji said, “While we are deeply dejected with the verdict of the High Court, we are determined to carry this struggle forward. The CBI and the Delhi Police have become puppets under the Modi regime, and it has been apparent in the way in which the investigation over the last two years have been severely compromised.”

Najeeb – according to the petition – had called his mother at around 2:30 am on October 15, 2016, and had informed her that “something had happened to him”. Worried Fatima consoled him, and left for Delhi with her second son Mujeeb. After reaching the national capital, she called her son again, and told him that she will be reaching his hostel room. Najeeb – said the petition – confirmed that he was at his room. However, when the two reached the hostel, they did not find Najeeb in his room.

Residents of the hostel reportedly informed Fatima that Najeeb had an altercation with the ABVP members on October 14 night and that he was brutally assaulted by them.

In her petition before the High Court, Fatima Nafees had submitted that ABVP members had beaten up Najeeb and that the ABVP is a students’ wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and is also closely connected with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She had therefore reasoned that the court should appoint a Special Investigation Team (SIT) consisting of members with “proven integrity from outside Delhi” to take over the investigation from the Delhi Police Crime Branch.

The mysterious disappearance case – a brief timeline

After Najeeb’s disappearance, the Delhi Police had lodged a case of abduction on the complaint of the mother on October 16, 2016.

At the end of the month, the city police announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for anyone providing information to locate Najeeb. The award amount was gradually increased to Rs 5 lakh by the end of November 2016.

An SIT was set up, on October 20, 2017, on the instruction of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

The Delhi Police transferred the case to its Crime Branch on November 16, 2016.

After mother Fatima Nafees filed a habeas corpus in the Delhi High Court on November 25, 2016, the CBI was asked by the court, on May 16, 2017, to probe the case, as the city cops could not make much progress even after six months.

The CBI filed an FIR for “kidnapping with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine” Najeeb on June 3, 2017.

The CBI was slammed on December 9, 2016, by the High Court for its failure in tracing Najeeb, as the police were clueless about him even after 55 days.

On December 14, the High Court ordered the police to search the entire JNU campus, including hostels, classrooms and rooftops of the varsity by using sniffer dogs.

Over 600 police personnel along with sniffer dogs searched the campus on December 19 to get clues on Najeeb.

The High Court, on December 22, asked the Delhi Police to do everything possible to find Najeeb and also suggested the investigators to conduct lie-detector test on his roommate and the nine suspects in the case.

On January 28, 2017, Najeeb’s family alleged harassment by the Delhi Police when pre-dawn searches were conducted at their house at Badaun.

The High Court, on February 13, said it was “foxed” by the lack of information on Najeeb's whereabouts. The family sought to hand over probe to some other agency.

A magisterial court, on March 30, 2017, rejected nine suspect students’ plea against the polygraph test, and summoned them to appear on April 6.

The Sessions Court, on May 3, 2017, set aside the magisterial court order, but allowed the police to send them a fresh notice.

The cops, on May 15, 2017, filed a chargesheet in the case related to making ransom call to the relatives of Najeeb demanding Rs 20 lakh for his release.

The High Court, on May 16, 2017, transferred the case to the CBI with immediate effect, and instructed that the probe be supervised by an officer, not less than the rank of a deputy inspector general (DIG).

On November 14, 2017, the CBI told the High Court it has sent suspect students’ mobile phones to its forensic lab, and were awaiting the report of analysis.

The High Court, on April 2, 2018, pulled up the CBI’s forensic lab in Chandigarh for laxity in examining the suspect students' mobile phones.

On May 11, nearly a year after being handed over the probe, the CBI told the High Court that no evidence found to show any crime was committed.

The investigation agency, on July 12, told the court it was seriously contemplating filing a closure report in the missing case.

The court, on September 4, reserved the judgment in the case after the CBI said 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.

Nearly two years after Najeeb went missing from JNU, the Delhi High Court, on October 8, has allowed the CBI to file closure report in the investigation.