The 27-year-old JNU student had gone missing from his hostel in October 2016 after a scuffle with students affiliated to the BJP’s student wing, the ABVP

The Delhi High Court, on Monday (October 8), allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file a closure report in the missing case of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Najeeb Ahmed, who mysteriously disappeared from the varsity campus two years ago following a scuffle with students reportedly affiliated with the BJP’s youth wing, the ABVP.

The Delhi High Court bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel, however, allowed Fatima Nafees, Najeeb’s mother and petitioner in the case, to move the trial court for a status report and granted her liberty to raise grievances before it when the report is being filed.

It may be recalled that 27-year-old Najeeb, a student of M.Sc. Biotechnology (1st Year) at the Jawaharlal Nehru University had gone missing from the varsity’s Mahi-Mandvi hostel on October 15, 2016, following a scuffle with some students reportedly affiliated to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) the previous night.

Before his mysterious disappearance, Najeeb had reportedly called Fatima at around 2.30 am and informed her that “something untoward” had happened to him. Scared for her elder son’s life, Fatima left for Delhi from her native town in western UP along with Najeeb’s sibling, Mujeeb. Upon reaching Delhi, Fatima called Najeeb and told him that she was on her way to his hostel. Najeeb reportedly confirmed to his mother that he was at his hostel room and waiting for her. However, a little over an hour later, when Fatima finally reached Najeeb’s hostel, she was informed that he wasn’t present in his room. Fatima’s efforts to reach Najeeb on the phone failed and there were no leads to his whereabouts, forcing the aggrieved mother to contact the local police which filed a missing persons FIR a day later.

The Delhi police allegedly dragged its feet in the case, forcing Fatima to move the Delhi High Court with senior advocate Colin Gonsalves appearing for her as the counsel. Investigations in the case were later transferred to the CBI which has now informed the Delhi High Court that it hasn’t unearthed any evidence of the said scuffle between Najeeb and the ABVP members on the night of October 14, 2016.

The Delhi High Court’s extant decision comes a month after the CBI informed it of the decision to close the case under section 169 (release of accused when evidence is deficient) of the CrPC.

“We have taken a decision to file a report under section 169 (release of accused when evidence is deficient) of the CrPC. We have completed the investigation. We did not want to file a closure report before the trial court without bringing it to the knowledge of this court. The court may dispose of the petition today after which we will file the closure report before the magistrate and the petitioner may file a protest petition there, if they wish to,” CBI’s counsel Nikhil Goel was quoted by PTI as saying.

Colin Gonsalves, the counsel of Najeeb’s mother, had opposed the CBI’s submission and had accused the agency of protecting the accused by not interrogating them. “The CBI has succumbed to the pressure of its masters. It has failed to conduct the investigation in a fair and true manner. Why CBI was not doing custodial interrogation of the accused?” PTI had quoted him as saying.

— India Legal Bureau