Court raps Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Police for mishandling student’s mysterious death

Delhi High Court criticizes Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Police for failing to register FIR in suspicious death case.

The Delhi High Court on Friday (May 16, 2025) came down heavily on both the Delhi Police and the Uttar Pradesh Police for failing to register an FIR, till now, into the suspicious death of a 20-year-old Delhi college student, whose body was found in his car in Noida last December.

Calling it a textbook case of the “passing-the-buck” syndrome between two State police forces, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani directed the Delhi Police to register a Zero FIR forthwith and transfer all material and evidence collected to the Uttar Pradesh Police within a week.

The Uttar Pradesh Police, in turn, was directed to “register or re-register” an FIR and investigate the matter without further delay or dereliction.

The case concerned the death of Harsh Kumar Sharma, who left his home in Delhi on the morning of December 3, 2024, to attend college in Noida but never returned. After his family’s effort to contact him failed, a missing person’s complaint was lodged with the Delhi Police at 9.15 p.m.

The police traced his phone to a service lane near RCI Hostel in Greater Noida, where they found his lifeless body inside his car around 11.30 p.m. that same night. Inside the car, a carbon monoxide cylinder, syringes, and a diary bearing a chilling note—stating “IF YOU WANT TO MEET THIS PERSON, HE IS DEAD”—was found.

Despite these circumstances, neither police force registered an FIR for murder. Hence, even basic investigation such as seizure of incriminating articles (the car, the cylinder, the syringes) was not done, nor was the essential forensic investigation undertaken (such as lifting of fingerprints, collecting DNA evidence and other incriminating material), nor were any statements recorded.

The court noted with alarm that the car—an essential repository of evidence—was returned to the family without any proper investigation.