Najeeb case: Court seeks students' stand on lie detection

A Delhi court on Monday sought the response of nine Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students, regarding conducting of a polygraph test on them, in connection with the case of missing varsity student, Najeeb Ahmed.

The students' counsel sought 10 days to file the reply, following which the court fixed the matter for November 10. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal passed the directions after allowing the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) plea for advancement of the hearing.

In its plea, the CBI has sought an early hearing on its application, seeking consent of nine students for a lie-detection test. The investigating agency approached the court on October 16 for an early hearing, which has been adjourned to January 24, 2018.

Ahmed has been missing since October 15 last year. The case was initially being probed by the local police. Later, a special investigation team (SIT) was formed, before the Crime Branch took over the case. The Delhi High Court handed over the investigation to the CBI on May 16.

The agency then approached the trial court, seeking an early hearing on its plea. On January 23, the police had issued notices to these nine students and asked them to appear before a magistrate to record their statement to confirm whether they were willing to undergo the lie detector test. The students, however, approached the court, challenging the notices sent to them. On May 3, the court quashed the police order.