Najeeb went missing from the Mahi-Mandvi hostel of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on October 15 last year following a scuffle with some other students, allegedly affiliated to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the previous night.
The high court had on May 16 handed over to the CBI the investigation into the disappearance of Najeeb, a student of M.Sc Biotechnology.
A bench of justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta today said the status report filed by the CBI indicated the steps taken by it so far and it does not give any reason for the court to believe that the agency's efforts have slackened.
"Let the CFSL report come. Let a cleared picture emerge. We have no option but to be patient. We are not getting the impression (from the status reports) that their (CBI) efforts have slackened," the bench said.
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She also claimed that CBI had assured Fatima that the nine suspected students would be interrogated in custody if they decline to give consent for a lie-detector test, but no such step has been taken by the agency.
Sharma told the bench that the nine students had before the trial court declined to give consent for a lie-detector test.
"Let us leave it to the CBI how they want to go about their investigation. We can only monitor. We cannot tell them how to investigate," it said.
The court directed the CBI to expedite the forensic analysis of the seized electronic devices and listed the matter for further hearing on February 27.
The CBI, during the hearing, said that it has not given up on tracing the student and every possible effort was being made and every protocol was being followed.
Over a month after Najeeb went missing, his mother had moved the high court on November 25 last year, seeking directions to the police to trace her son.
However, as the police remained clueless about Najeeb's whereabouts even after seven months since he went missing, the probe was handed over to CBI on May 16.
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