Delhi HC allows CBI to file closure report in Najeeb Ahmed's disappearance case

The CBI claimed that after examining the case from all angles, it does not think that any offence was committed against the missing person.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file a closure report in the case of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Najeeb Ahmed who has been missing since 2016. The court said that if Najeeb's mother Fatima Nafees wants, she can move trial court to get a status report in the case. The court added that she can raise her grievances before the trial court where the report is filed. 

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

The CBI had earlier told the court that after probing the case, it has decided to file a closure report. The central agency claimed that after examining the case from all angles, it does not think that any offence was committed against the missing person.

The CBI had on September 4 told the court that it had not filed the closure report yet before the trial court concerned as it wanted to first bring it to the knowledge of the high court.

However, objecting to the CBI report, Najeeb's mother had told the court that it was a "political case" and that the "CBI has succumbed to the pressure of its masters". Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for Ahmed's mother, had said that neither the CBI has done its best in the case nor has it probed the matter in a fair manner.

The petitioner had also sought setting up of an SIT comprising independent experts to enquire into the matter.

Ahmed's mother 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 his whereabouts even seven months after 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 that it has done its bit in the matter.