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HomeJudiciaryGive us report in 2 months on the NLU Jodhpur student ‘murder’:...

Give us report in 2 months on the NLU Jodhpur student ‘murder’: SC to Rajasthan govt 

Vikrant Nagaich, the NLU student, was found dead in an open ground near a railway track in Jodhpur on 14 August 2017. 

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday came down heavily on the Rajasthan government for its probe into the alleged murder of National Law University (NLU) Jodhpur student, Vikrant Nagaich, giving the state two months to conclude the investigation.

Nagaich was found dead in August 2017. 

“When are you going to complete it? It is going on and on and on. There has to be an end to it,” a bench led by Justice R.F. Nariman told Rajasthan government’s additional advocate general Manish Singhvi. 

The bench was hearing a plea seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in the case. It had issued a notice to the state on 6 June.

Filed by the Nagaich’s mother, the plea claims that the Rajasthan Police has been “lackadaisical and negligent”, and alleges that this “is a result of probable collusion to shield some high, mighty and influential person(s)”. 

Nagaich was found dead on 14 August 2017, in an open ground near the railway track behind the Laxmi Guesthouse in Jodhpur, a place usually frequented by NLU students.


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Not satisfied with the status of the probe: SC

Unimpressed with the police dragging its probe, the Supreme Court bench questioned the tardy pace of investigation. It expressed dissatisfaction over the status report the state police submitted to the court. 

“The investigations must be completed in two months and the final report will be submitted in this court,” the bench ordered Singhvi. 

Singhvi gave out technical details of the investigation and tried to convince the bench that the police were working on all fronts to solve the case. After the CB-CID, now a special investigation team is looking into various aspects of the case, he told the bench. 

“The deceased’s phone was completely destroyed. We have now written to Google and Facebook for some information but they have not replied. This is something not in our control,” Singhvi stated. 

Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Astha Sharma, contended that the Rajasthan police cannot be allowed to investigate the matter indefinitely. She requested the bench to fix a deadline.

Parents of the victim were also present during the hearing held through video-conferencing. They attended the proceedings from their residence in Gurgaon. 

The bench agreed with Sharma’s submission and made it clear to Singhvi that the state police cannot go on with the investigation without concluding it. Accepting her stand, the bench imposed the two-month deadline for the police to complete the inquiry.  

Parents suspect murder

The Rajasthan Police began its investigation into the case only after Nagaich’s father suspected foul play and wrote to the then Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria and senior police officials about it. Initially, the police had labelled the death as a case of suicide. 

Following the letter, in June 2018, the crime branch registered a case of murder against unknown persons under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code at the Mandor police station in Jodhpur.

Nagaich’s parents have pointed out that the nature of injuries found on the body couldn’t have been a result of a suicide. Relying on witness accounts of labourers around the place where the body was found and the state of the body, they have also contended that the body was moved after the incident and left near the tracks.


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