The Delhi High Court on Tuesday castigated the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for filing the same report regarding its probe into disappearance of Jawaharlal Nehru Univesity (JNU) student Najeeb Ahmad that was placed on record last time, saying that the case was “not transferred to the agency for fun”.
“There is nothing new. It is the same report of July 17. We did not adjourn matter on that date to examine this two-and-a-half page scrap today,” Justices GS Sistani and Chander Shekhar said to the agency.
It directed the CBI to file a fresh status report before the next date of hearing on September 6. “We have not transferred the matter to the CBI for fun," the Bench said, adding that the July 17 report only showed “cosmetic steps” being taken by the agency. The Bench said it lists matters for hearing “at the cost of others”.
“What was the idea of listing it on TuesdayIJ Just to say the report has been filedIJ,” the double Bench asked the CBI. During the hearing, the Bench asked the CBI, what happened during the interrogation of the persons accused of assaulting the missing student the night before his disappearance.
The agency replied that the status report will also have the same answer. The CBI, however, said there was progress in its investigation and it was sure it will "crack the case", but added that it would take some time. It also said that, as part of its probe, it was also examining the earlier investigation carried out by the Delhi Police.
The High Court had on May 16 ordered the CBI to take over the probe into the mysterious circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the student since October 2016.
The order was passed on the plea of Najeeb’s mother, Fatima Nafees, who moved the court on November 25, 2016, for tracing her son, a first-year MSc Biotechnology student who went missing from JNU hostel Mahi Mandavi.
The student went missing on October 15, 2016 after he had an altercation with some students belonging to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in the campus. later, students of the RSS-affiliated ABVP had denied any involvement in his disappearance.