Concerned over the continued disappearance of a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student for nearly two months, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the police to "scan" the entire campus, including hostels, classrooms and rooftops, of the varsity using sniffer dogs.
A Bench of Justices G S Sistani and Vinod Goel also asked JNU and its student union, JNUSU, to file affidavits in two days stating that they have no objection to the "thorough search" and that all assistance would be provided to the police. The court also said the police was free to search Jamia Millia University if required.
The division Bench also came down heavily upon the Delhi Police for their delay in recording statements of students who were suspected of thrashing the missing student, Najeeb Ahmed, a day before his disappearance. The court said in case the university or the students offered any resistance or objection, the police could approach the court for permission.
Stressing that the Bench was concerned only with finding Ahmed, the court was unconcerned about the efforts made by student unions or whether action undertaken by JNU was right or wrong. "We are only concerned with his disappearance," it said.
The directions came on a habeus corpus plea filed by Najeeb's mother Fatima Nafees, after her son disappeared without a trace on the intervening night of October 14-15.
Representing Nafees, Colin Gonsalves of the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) said that the police was "bypassing" a possible abduction angle and instead focusing on the theory that Najeeb may have been mentally unstable as he simply walked out of the campus.
Representing the Delhi Police, Senior Standing Counsel Rahul Mehra vehemently refuted the allegations and told the court that all angles were being explored. Mehra contended that the police was transparent and all the probe details were being shared with Nafees.
Mehra further added that the four students suspected of beating up Najeeb on the eve of his disappearance would be put to lie-detector tests
