In yet another aspect in the case of the missing Jawarhalal Nehru student Najeeb Ahmed, the Delhi Sessions Court on Thursday stayed a Magistrate Court’s order which had asked nine JNU students, who had allegedly scuffled with Ahmed prior to his disappearance, to appear before it to record their consent or refusal to undergo a lie detector test. Reportedly, Additional Sessions Judge Siddharth Sharma stayed the Magistrate Court order, dated March 30, and fixed the matter for further hearing on May 3.

The students had received a notice earlier in March from the Delhi police asking them to appear before the court in order to record their statement using a lie detector test. This was after the police was pulled up by the Delhi High Court for its slow pace in solving the case amidst mounting pressure from students and his family.

On March 30, the nine students challeged this move in the magisterial court. But this plea was dismissed by the magistrate and the students were ordered to appear before the court on April 6 to record their statements.

Sidharth Luthra, representing the students on Thursday, moved an application in the Sessions Court, challenging the dismissal of their plea in the court of the Metropolitan Magistrate.

“The hearing of the case was scheduled at 2.30 pm on Thursday. Sidharth Luthra reached the court at 2 pm and submitted the application. The procedures were done in ten minutes and the court ordered a stay on the plea. I am sure that this was a meticulously planned move as nobody was present on court at the moment, not even Najeeb’s relatives,” Nadeem Khan, a social activist told Newslaundry. “It is also suspicious that how students could afford a senior lawyer like Luthra, who represents people like Arun Jaitley in courts,” Khan said.

Of the nine accused, seven are currently studying in JNU and two of them are former students. All were named in the complaint lodged by a section of students after Ahmed went missing on October 16, 2016.