Delhi HC issues notice to Delhi Police in plea to file chargesheet against JNU Prof Atul Johri in sexual harassment case

The Delhi High Court has issued notice in a plea seeking a direction to Delhi Police to file its chargesheet against Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Professor Atul Johri, who is facing sexual harassment allegations from his students..Notice was issued by a single Judge Bench of Justice JR Midha to the Delhi Police seeking its response..The application was moved by the eight JNU students who had filed “separate and independent complaints detailing the grave and persistent sexual harassment and other offences committed by Johri.”.The complaints were registered as separate FIRs in March 2018..The application was preferred after the Delhi Police filed its status report dated April 30, in the matter..In their application filed through senior advocate Vrinda Grover and advocates Ratna Appender and Soutik Banerjee, the complainants have alleged that the Delhi Police has failed to provide any justification for non-filing of chargesheet in spite of a lapse of more than a year since the registration of the FIR..The Court was informed that after the FIRs were registered, the statements of the complainants under Section 164 CrPC were recorded in March 2018 itself..Thereafter, the supplementary statements of the complainants, as well as statements of witnesses under Section 161, were also recorded by the Delhi Police by May 2018..The applicants state that the Delhi Police’s failure to file a charge sheet even after a year, “sends out a signal that the police are shielding the accused from legal consequences.”.Invoking the Right to Fair & Speedy Trial, the applicants apprehended that delay would enable “witnesses to be won over and evidence to be tampered with”..“..any delay in completion of investigation in the present case, will make the witnesses, most of whom are young research scholars and students, professionally and socially vulnerable to influence and intimidation by Respondent No. 4 (Johri)..the present case involves serious allegations which are exacerbated by the fact that the accused holds the position and authority of a Professor and the victims are all young and vulnerable women scholars. In such circumstances, it is incumbent upon the investigating authorities to conduct the investigation in a fair and prompt manner in order to ensure in order to ensure that the complainants and other victims of sexual offences do not lose faith in the criminal justice system.”. The applicants thus seek the expeditious filing of the chargesheet in the case..The application forms part of a petition assailing the clean chit given to Johri by JNU’s Internal Complaints Committee..Johri is currently on bail, which was granted to him hours after his arrest by Delhi Police on March 20..The matter will be heard next on October 31.