CBI ready to probe Jindal varsity student's sexual abuse charges, SC told

New Delhi, May 29: The CBI Friday told the Supreme Court that it was ready to undertake probe into the allegations of sexual abuse of a management course student of Jindal Global University in Haryana by three students of same varsity's law school.

The vacation bench of Justices AK Sikri and Uday Umersh Lalit was told this as it adjourned the hearing till Thursday (June 4) on plea of counsel for three accused that since they had received notice only on Thursday, they needed time file their response.

The court was informed about the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) being prepared to undertake the investigation even as Haryana government resisted the move by the petitioner (the victim) seeking the transfer of investigation from state police to CBI.

Additional Solicitor General Pinki Anand had on Wednesday had sought the time for taking instructions from the investigating agency whether it was inclined take over the investigation into the case from Haryana Police.

The apex court Wednesday (May 27) had issued notice to Hardik Sikri, Vikas Garg and Karan Chhabra of Jindal Global Law School - accused of perpetrating sexual abuses on a junior BBA/MBA course student - seeking their response on the plea seeking the transfer of investigation to CBI.

The victim, a second year student in the varsity in Sonipat in Haryana has sought transfer of investigation to the CBI, contending that apart from being a crime against a person, it was also a cybercrime and the local police had no knowledge of offences involving information technology.

The court was told earlier that local police did not check the victim girl's mobile which has sensitive information and even failed to take into custody the electronic devices including mobile phones and laptops on which explicit information and other details were stored.

The victim has also told the court that the state police discouraged her from putting on record all the wrongs that were done to her by the accused including during a visit to Chandigarh where she was forced to perform sexual acts.

She has complained of the "extremely shoddy, unprofessional and biased manner in which the present investigation was being conducted by the state police".

"Police authorities had deliberately avoided recording extremely relevant and crucial information only to make the task easier for them, thereby compromising with the investigation in its totality," she said in her petition.

She also cited various pressures, including political, being brought on her parents to withdraw the case

"The interference of politicians in thwarting a free, fair, proper, unbiased and transparent investigation becomes evident when the transfer of the SHO who had registered the FIR on April 11, on the very next day, is looked at from a proper perspective," the petitionsaid.

The victim has also sought direction to CBI to take into "safe custody, the mobile phones/computer etc. of the petitioner as well as those of the university authorities which contain material evidence, until the final disposal of the present writ petition".

IANS