SC Seeks Centre’s Reply on Plea for CBI Probe into Junaid Lynching

A bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and MM Shantanagoudar stayed the trial in the case till further orders.

Junaid was stabbed to death and his brothers were injured by a mob that allegedly hurled communal slurs at them onboard the Delhi-Mathura passenger train.

(Photo: Reuters)

The Supreme Court, on Monday, 19 March, sought the Centre's response on a plea seeking a CBI probe into the Ballabhgarh mob lynching case in which 17-year-old Junaid Khan was stabbed to death on a train in June last year.

A bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and MM Shantanagoudar also stayed the trial in the case till further orders.

Junaid's father has challenged the Punjab and Haryana High Court's 27 November 2017 order, refusing a CBI probe into the matter, and sought that the accused be booked under offences of hate crimes.

Junaid's father Jalaluddin, through his counsel, had filed the petition on 26 October in the high court, seeking a probe by an independent agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the lynching case.

He had also demanded a stay on the trial in a Faridabad court.

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.