Najeeb case: CBI plea for a polygraph on 9 students

New Delhi: A Delhi court will hear on Nov. 21 the CBI’s plea to conduct a “lie-detection” test on nine JNU students as part of its probe into the mysterious disappearance of Najeeb Ahmad.

Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Samar Vishal reserved its order after hearing arguments of the CBI and lawyers appearing for the suspect students.

Najeeb, an MSc first-year student, has been missing from the Mahi Mandavi hostel in JNU since Oct. 16 last year after a scuffle allegedly with ABVP activists. The RSS students wing has denied any involvement in his disappearance.

Earlier, the Delhi police had moved before a court seeking for the same permission. However, later the CMM court’s order was set aside by Sessions court.

Crime Branch inspector Surender Gulia, who was then handling the case,  had issued notices to the nine students and asking them to appear before the cops for polygraph test. The student after getting the notice had approached the court challenging the notice issued to them by Mr Gulia. They had said the notice issued to them by police was immature. But the court asked them to appear before it and tell it whether they wanted to undergo polygraph test?

“Lie-detector tests can be conducted if this is volunteered. But there is difference between volunteer and being asked to volunteer. The court had no jurisdiction under CrPC that it may direct them to undergo lie-detector testy, the counsel of the nine students said.