Expressing displeasure over the mysterious disappearance of Najeeb Ahmad, the student of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), the Delhi High Court on Monday very tersely told the Delhi Police “cut across all political barriers” and get him back
A double of Justices GS Sistani and Vinod Geol observed that there could be “something more” to his disappearance as no one can just vanish from the heart of the national Capital.
The High Court also raised several questions, including why the alleged on-campus scuffle between Najeeb and some members of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the injuries sustained by Najeeb were not mentioned in the Delhi Police’s status report.
A Bench of justices GS Sistani and Vinod Goel said if a person disappears from the national Capital and remains untraced, then it would create a “sense of insecurity” in the people here and asked the police to explore all angles.
“This is the heart of India, the national Capital. No one can just disappear from here. It creates a sense of insecurity in people. If he disappeared, then there is something more to that. All angles have to be explored. 45 days is a long period for someone to be underground,” it said to the police which is of the view that Najeeb was “not forcefully abducted”.
After perusing the status report of the Delhi Police, the court asked why was Najeeb taken to the Safdarjung Hospital in an ambulance if he had no apparent or visible injuries, as this detail was missing from the police report.
It also asked why the report does not say anything about the alleged on-campus scuffle between Najeeb and some members allegedly of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) who are alleged to have brutally beaten him up and only mentions that the missing student had slapped one of them.
The judge questioned why police waited till November 11 to interrogate those persons with whom Najeeb allegedly had an altercation on the night of October 14-15, prior to his disappearance on October 15 and against whom a criminal complaint was lodged on October 17.
“Cut across all political barriers. Get him back. You will get your answers at either of the two places, Jamia or JNU. No need to go to Aligarh or any other place so far,” the Bench told police, which said an auto driver has claimed to have dropped off Najeeb at Jamia Millia Islamia.
The court was hearing a habeus corpus plea filed by the student’s mother 45-year-old Fatima Nafees, who was in court on Monday and was in tears during the hearing. She has sought directions to the authorities to trace her 27-year-old son.
During the hearing, the Bench said it did not want to tell police what to do but it can easily “shadow” some of the persons involved in the matter to know what was going on and to “fearlessly” tell the court what it has found out.
The court was also not pleased with the “attitude” of the JNU Vice Chancellor for not assigning anyone in the matter despite being served a copy of the petition.
The court also asked the varsity to reconsider Najeeb’s expulsion from the hostel, if not already done so, and to advertise in newspapers that they will reconsider his punishment once he returns.
It asked Najeeb’s mother to issue a statement asking him to return and directed the management and students of JNU to assist and cooperate with police to trace him.
During arguments, police said its Crime Branch was exploring all angles, including that Najeeb’s disappearance had something to do with his “illness of mental depression” for which he was under medication since 2012. It was also of the view that he was hiding as he was probably ashamed of being expelled from the hostel.
It also took note of the steps taken by police, like uploading his details to the Zonal Integrated Police network, putting up notices across the city and issuing advertisements in newspapers, apart from enhancing the reward from Rs 50,000 to Rs five lakh for information leading to his recovery.