The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked two news organisations to retract from their websites and YouTube channels certain reports and videos in which missing Jawaharlal Nehru University student Najeeb Ahmed has been accused of having links with the Islamic State jihadist group, PTI reported.
Justice JR Midha issued the direction after hearing a defamation suit moved by Ahmed’s mother Fatima Nafees, who also sought an apology and Rs 2.2 crore in damages. Lawyer Nabila Hasan, who appeared for Nafees, said the court will next hear the case on October 29, when it will take up her plea seeking an apology from the media houses.
In the petition, Nafees contended that even the Delhi Police had not said that he had any links to the Islamic State.
On Monday, the Delhi High Court allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation to file a closure report in the case. The agency told the court in September that it had completed the inquiry into Ahmed’s disappearance “from every aspect”, but made no progress. The court said Nafees, who had moved the court seeking an order to the police to find her son, could raise her grievances before the trial court where the report is filed.
On Monday, Nafees said she would approach the Supreme Court and accused the security agencies of having misguided the court.
Ahmed, a Master’s student, went missing on October 15, 2016. He was spotted getting into an autorickshaw on the campus the morning after he was allegedly beaten up by a group of students belonging to the ABVP. About a month later, the police claimed Ahmed had been seen getting out of an autorickshaw near the Jamia Millia University in Delhi. Then, the trail went cold. The case made no headway even though it was passed on from the local police to the Delhi police’s Crime Branch and, eventually, to the CBI.
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