Student assault case: Haryana Police told to report in 15 days

Supreme Court on Thursday asked Haryana police to file a fresh status report within 15 days over the repeated sexual assault of an MBA student from Jindal Global University by her seniors.

A vacation bench of Justices Prafulla C Pant and Amitava Roy said they were not averse to ordering the CBI probe in the case but would decide on it after going through the state police’s investigation report.

Accusing the police of sloppy investigative work and failing to invoke relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, the girl had asked for CBI probe over the incident in which she was sexually assaulted after the accused students obtained her explicit pictures on WhatsApp.

Representing the girl, senior advocate Indira Jaising said she did not have confidence in Haryana police since they are not equipped to handle cyber crime.

She claimed that the five students accused of the crime were allowed to walk away with their mobile phones after the complaint was filed on April 11.

Additional Solicitor General P S Patwalia, representing Haryana police, said the girl refused to come forward to record her statement despite several notices and did not deposit her mobile phone for forensic examination.

He said the state government has been handling the case with seriousness and has appointed a Special Investigation Team to probe the incident. The bench said it was not against the CBI probe but first wanted to learn the police version before deciding if transferring the investigation was necessary.

To the ASG’s suggestion that the girl could deposit her mobile phone with the court for examination if she did not have confidence in state police, the court said: “If we start monitoring the investigation or the trial in this manner, it would not be fair and independent. We are concerned with sensitivity of the case but the accused have also right of defence.”