Hafiz Junaid lynching case: Punjab and Haryana HC dismisses plea for CBI probe, says police investigation enough

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking a CBI probe into the alleged lynching of 17-year-old Junaid Khan, who was stabbed to death on a train in June. [caption id=“attachment_4188241” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] A single bench of Justice Rajan Gupta passed the order. “The judge dismissed the plea on the ground that the police investigation in the case was proper,” said Arshdeep Singh Cheema, the counsel for Junaid’s father Jalaluddin. “During the course of the hearing, the complainant has not been able to show that there are serious flaws in the investigation, which would lead to the conclusion that the same is shoddy or tainted. “Besides, there is nothing to show that the incident has any national or international ramifications. It is, thus, not a fit case to exercise extraordinary power to hand over the investigation to the CBI,” the judge wrote in the order. On 17 November, the high court had reserved its order on the petition after the conclusion of arguments. Jalaluddin, through his counsel, had filed the petition on 26 October, seeking a probe by an independent agency, such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Junaid lynching case. The petitioner had also demanded a stay on the trial in a Faridabad court in connection with the killing of Junaid. The high court had issued notices to the CBI and Haryana government on the plea of Junaid’s father. Junaid, who had boarded a Mathura-bound train from Delhi, was allegedly stabbed to death when he, along with his brothers and cousins, was returning home to Khandawali village after shopping for Eid in Delhi in June. His body was dumped near Asaoti village in Faridabad district.